


boyfies

by othersunsets



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Eventual Smut, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Sokka is a Lovable Gay Pothead, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Zuko is an Anxious Bisexual, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:27:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/othersunsets/pseuds/othersunsets
Summary: in which zuko and sokka bond over their hatred of kafka and their love of iced coffee,  crash a frat party, and just generally cause chaos <3***ON INDEFINITE HIATUS***
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	1. that is so very much cap

~Zuko~

What exactly is Zuko supposed to put on his job application? That he's an anxious bisexual who doesn't have a car? 

It's not that he can't drive. He just doesn't want to. Zuko figures he doesn't need to worry about it. Once he moves to New York City after graduation, he won't exactly need a car. 

But for now, he must remain a twenty two year old failure who has to take the bus all the way from downtown to central campus twice a day. 

Zuko turns on his phone data as he climbs onto the 8:45 am bus, his fingers furiously typing away at the "Tell us about yourself" section of a job application for a brand management company he's applying to. The smell of acrid smoke and burning rubber assaults his nose, and he nods at the driver before sitting down at a window seat in the middle of the bus as he usually does. 

He slouches down, lifting his knees up so that they can rest on the back of the seat in front of him, and turns up the brightness on his phone, wincing as his battery goes down a percent. He definitely forgot to bring his charger, but it's too late to run home and grab it now.

Zuko's screen has so many cracks on it that he can barely see what he's typing. He really should have finished this last night; he has class till noon, and the application is due... at noon. So. 

It's fine. He can definitely write a stellar job application in fifteen minutes.

He has to get this job. Zuko is well aware that as a college senior, he doesn't have much time before he's going to have to go out into the world. Even though it's only the end of September, it seems like everyone he knows already has a job lined up for after graduation, which is...terrifying. 

It's not like anyone lets him complain about his lack of employment either. Whenever he tries to, they just tell him: "Well, it's your fault for majoring in Art." 

If one more person tells him that he can't get a job as an Art Major, he is going to flip a table. 

And then he is going to live underneath said table when he can't afford rent because he is an Art Major. 

The bus starts moving at a sickeningly slow pace, which is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it gives Zuko more time to work on the application. On the other hand, it almost guarantees that he will have to run for his life once he reaches the Studio Art building if he wants to make it in time. But he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it. 

Someone lets out a loud laugh three seats ahead of Zuko, and he looks up. A couple is sitting side by side, their heads close together as they talk. Zuko has never seen them before, but then again, he is taking a later bus than usual, so his entire schedule is thrown off, and-

Are they making out? 

That's...a lot of tongue. 

At 8:50 in the morning? On the bus? Really?

Zuko puts his head back down, trying to focus on the task at hand. It's not like he has anything against couples. And it's not like he's jealous or anything. And it definitely isn't like he's never been in a relationship before and will probably end up alone at eighty years old in an overpriced apartment sipping lukewarm tea by himself or anything. 

No. It definitely isn't like that. 

He just can't understand how someone could meet someone else, and then build a romantic connection with them, and then fall in love with them without the whole thing being completely terrifying. 

Although...

Theoretically...

It would be nice to have someone to do shit with. 

Like, it might be cool to meet up with someone (who has a car, so they could pick Zuko up) at dusk and drive to a clearing and have a picnic and talk for hours while the sun sets and then hold eachother's hands while lying on a blanket and looking at the stars. 

Like, that might be nice. 

But unfortunately, Zuko's prospects for a relationship are pretty dire. And by dire, he means non existent. 

His only real qualifications for a partner though are that they're a decent person who likes him. He doesn't really care who they are.

Although... men really try it sometimes. They are alot to deal with. 

It's not that he hates men. He unfortunately happens to be one. It's just-his general consensus is that women and non-binary pals are amazing, and his attraction to men is simply an...unfortunate occurrence. 

But his thoughts on that don't really matter if he's so very much single, do they? 

He shakes his head, clearing thoughts about relationships and other frightening ideas out of his mind, choosing instead to actually finish his application. There is absolutely no time to proofread what he's written, but he's just going to have to work with the circumstances he's been given, and so he presses send. 

The telltale sound of the engine rumbling underneath him reminds Zuko that he is in fact on a bus, and he is in fact trying to get to class, and probably should get off said bus if he wants to make that happen. And so he shoves his phone into his back pocket and races up the aisle, nodding at the driver again as the doors open and he hops off the bus. 

It takes about ten seconds of fast walking for him to realize one very important detail. 

He got off the bus two stops too late. 

"...Shit." Zuko says, whipping out his phone to search up the bus schedule. It is currently 8:54, and of course, there aren't any buses running for another ten minutes, which would make him very tardy, and would affect his semester grade for his Art class so very much. 

The fact that he had been so lost in thought about his non-existent relationship history that he hadn't even been aware of his surroundings is very upsetting, but he can't even begin to process that right now. There, that was his proof that relationships are indeed a shit show. 

"Shit!" He says louder, and slaps his hand across his forehead over and over again, so hard that it stings. "Stupid, stupid, stupid-"

A shout from the other side of the street interrupts Zuko from his stupor. 

"What's going on, my guy?" 

And Zuko, who whips his head around in search of the sound, locks eyes with the most beautiful guy he's ever seen. 

The mystery man is sitting at the wheel of a orange Kia and blasting ska music with the windows down, his hands cupped around his mouth as he shouts to get Zuko's attention.

He leans over slightly to the passengers side so that he can yell at Zuko from across the street. 

Did Zuko ever imply that he hates men? No, he didn't mean that. Men are amazing actually. 

And by men, he means this particular man, this guy with his bright blue eyes that were way too blue to be real, and...yeah, he appreciated the undercut. 

"You look distressed!" the guy yells with a shit eating grin on his face. 

"I...I am!" Zuko yells back.

"What's wrong?!"

"Uh-I got off at the wrong bus stop, and I have class in five minutes! So I'm just, uh....standing here." 

"Oh shit...Hop in, then! I'll drive you." the guy replies. Zuko blinks once, then twice. That's the last thing he was thinking the guy would say. He was expecting an oh, that sucks, good luck then! or something like that. 

"Are you sure?" Zuko asks. 

"Yeah-shit, man, hurry up, the light's about to turn green." the guy waves Zuko over, that charming smile still on his face, and Zuko, who figures he can't be late to class for the fifth time this early into the semester, starts racing across the street to the orange Kia. 

Zuko figures he probably looks really dumb, running across the street like this in front of the hot guy. He's never really thought about the way he runs before, but he sure as hell is thinking about it now. 

Why does he pump his arms like that? 

Is he breathing heavily? He's probably breathing heavily. 

He finally reaches the passengers side of the car after what feels like forever, yanking the door open and taking a seat. He tries to hold his breath for a moment so he doesn't start panting in front of the hot guy, but he can only keep that up for a few seconds before he lets out a breath. 

As Zuko inhales, he detects a strange scent in the car that he can't quite place, and it's overwhelming, and the music is loud and unrelenting. He takes another deep breath, and the smell wafts over him again and it kind of smells like...pine trees...but also not? He's very confused. Plus, the hot guy is staring at him with that smile of his, and it's just a lot to handle for a Tuesday morning. 

"Where to?" Hot Guy asks, his fingers rapidly drumming on the steering wheel. Zuko hopes that that means the guy is really upbeat or something, and not that he's annoyed at this whole situation, or impatient. Zuko looks down, and the almost empty Venti iced coffee in the cupholder confirms his suspicions. 

"The Studio Art Building," Zuko replies, raising his voice so he can be heard over the music. 

"Great!" Hot Guy says, and without warning, he steps on the gas as soon as the light turns green. Zuko sucks in another breath as the guy starts driving at a break neck speed, his tires screeching as he makes a U-turn. 

The only way to describe his driving is-it's so very safe, but there's still something...off about it. 

Zuko sniffs lightly as he puts on his seat belt, willing his beating heart to slow. He's not sure what to say...should he be making conversation right now? Is that the right thing to do in this situation? 

Yes? Yes. Okay. Conversation. He can make conversation. 

"Uh...Your car smells." 

Hot Guy is looking straight ahead with a smile on his face, a small cross earring dangling from his right ear. He's wearing an oversized vintage jean jacket, and his hair is pulled back away from his face, and...basically he's attractive. 

"Thanks. It's my air freshener. It's royal pine. I just got it. Apparently it was ranked as the fifth best air freshener this year." Hot Guy makes a sharp right turn, and Zuko holds on to the car door handle, gripping it so hard that his knuckles turn white. 

"Oh." Zuko says. He's not sure how to reply to that. 

"...And weed. You're...you're also smelling weed." 

"...I see." 

"It's legal in California!" 

"I know." 

"It's good shit, too. That's why you probably didn't recognize it at first. Good weed smells like pine trees." 

Zuko decides that this is a good opportunity to look at his phone to check the time. 

He would look at the car dash, but it says it's 2:30 am, which is...widely incorrect. 

Okay. He has two minutes until class starts. He....he can make it. He sighs in relief, setting his phone aside to turn the car volume down and direct Hot Guy. 

"It's this next left," Zuko says. 

"I gotcha." Hot Guy yanks his steering wheel to the left, and Zuko places his hand back at its rightful place on the car door handle. 

He pulls up in front of the Studio Art building, making an abrupt stop and unlocking the doors. 

"Get to class, young man!" he says with a fake stern voice as he wags his finger. 

"Yes sir." Zuko says, climbing out the car and shutting the door behind him. 

It's only when he's in the building and halfway up the stairs, smelling like weed and pine trees, that he realizes something. 

Not only did he forget to thank Hot Guy, or get his name, but he also left his phone in the car.


	2. the trenta coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy alternating pov let’s gooo

~Sokka~

Sokka would never have met Sexy Emo Guy if it weren't for The Trenta Coffee. 

He had already been pushing it by attempting to get coffee before his 9am despite having woken up about 15 minutes later than usual. 

But he's also a college senior, so he is past the point of giving a fuck. 

Of course, he wasn't the one who ordered The Trenta Coffee. Sokka always gets the same thing-A Venti iced caramel macchiato with extra sugar. It's not necessarily good for the body, but it's good for the soul. 

No, it wasn't him who ordered The Trenta Coffee. Sokka would never do that. It was the person in front of him, a probably-college-freshman dressed in a black pantsuit and wearing a watch so expensive that Sokka was sure it could probably pay for at least two years of tuition. 

The person had stomped up to the register and leaned forward, their black hair in a perfect updo with some kind of hair accessory in it, and had said very quickly in a voice that Sokka could only describe as sinister:

"Make me a four-thirds-that's right, four-thirds- caff triple-yes, triple-ristretto-NO FOAM- extra hot-two hundred and twelve degrees EXACTLY or I swear I will pour it on the floor and demand you make me a new one-NO FOAM-fahrenheit -TRENTA- one third soy milk one third coconut milk one third almond milk one pump sugar free vanilla two pumps sugar free cinnamon dolce-not Venti, TRENTA-one pack stevia one pack splenda one pack sugar in the raw splash of half and half cascara topping-NO FOAM-I SAID TRENTA-coffee-repeat that back to me-NOW." 

The barista had stared at the person for a long moment, their jaw hanging open as they held an empty Venti cup in the air with one hand and a Black Sharpie with the other. 

"...Can I get a name?" the barista had said.

"I asked for a HOT. TRENTA. COFFEE. Yes?" pantsuit person had said with a sickly sweet smile. 

"...Yes."

"So I can't imagine any possible circumstance where it would be acceptable for you to be holding an ICED. VENTI. CUP. Unless of course, you have some kind of masochistic craving for me to make ONE phone call that would black list you from every single coffee making establishment in the state and ensure that you never work in the food industry again. But here we are." pant suit person continued.

The barista had blinked once, then twice.

"Oh, and-my name is Azula. I hope for your sake that you never forget it." 

The barista had gulped before running to the back and grabbing a Trenta cup, writing down the name with a shaky hand before passing it down. 

It took at least ten minutes of fussing and prompting and panicking to get the order done, mostly because the baristas were terrified at the prospect of messing up even a single detail of Azula's order, and by the time Sokka had gotten his own coffee, he was already basically late. 

And if he hadn't been basically already late, he wouldn't have looked over during a red light and seen Sexy Emo Guy yelling at no one and repeatedly smacking himself on the forehead as he paced up and down the sidewalk.

Why was Sokka calling the guy "Sexo Emo Guy?" Well...

Sokka knew he was gay at the age of eight. He had proudly declared to his dad one day that he wanted to marry one of the boys in his class, and his dad had just smiled and told Sokka that he was too young to get married, but when he did, he would happily give his blessing. So there was that. 

Also, the guy was sexy because he was sexy. 

And he was emo because he looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was exactly Sokka's type. 

Alsooo he was dressed in all black-

a black button down shirt underneath a black oversized cable knit sweater (despite the 75 degree heat) with black ripped jeans and black Chanel boots (indicating some modicum of wealth that he was trying not to flaunt) while carrying a black Herschel Supply Co backpack (again, indicating unwanted wealth, a parent probably bought it for him) with his nails painted black and his eyes lined with black eyeliner and his black silky jaggedly cut hair falling slightly over a scar covering a sizeable portion of the left side of his face. 

Sokka considered himself to be pretty observant, so if he had to guess-

He'd assume that Sexy Emo Guy was the disgraced son of some kind of wealthy oppressive patriarch, and he was desperately trying to separate himself from his family and create his own path in the world. 

If he had to guess. 

In any case, Sokka had known that by dropping this guy off, he would definitely be late to his 9am. But did he care? No. Because hearing Sexy Emo Guy say "yes sir" to him, the side of his mouth lifted slightly in an almost smile before he slammed the door shut and ran up the stairs to the Studio Art Building, was worth dropping out of college for, let alone being late to his Econ class. 

Hmm. He could get used to that. Yes sir. 

Sokka had driven away after that, putting his sunglasses on to fight against the blaring sun as a grin crept across his face. Yes sir.

Yupppp, he could die a happy man now. Yes sir.

~

It takes several hours of brain rot and terrible classes that make him question why he chose to major in Econ before he finally gets back to his car and drives to his apartment in the late afternoon and realizes something very important. 

There is a phone, in a clear case, with an extremely cracked screen, sitting on the passengers seat. And it isn't his.

Shit. 

"Yo," Sokka says as he opens the door to his apartment. His roommate and best friend Suki is already home, her feet up on the coffee table as she flips through a scary looking Bio textbook. 

The two of them have been sharing a two bedroom apartment on the first floor for the past two years, mostly because they are very poor, and also because they are very much codependent. 

The two have been there for each other through thick and thin, through Suki's cottage core pansexual days (Suki, who is very much pansexual, is no longer cottage core), all of it. "I have a phone-and it's not mine. What do I do?"

"Huh?" Suki asks, looking up. "Uh..has anyone tried calling it at all?"

"Oh-true." Sokka puts his bag down and collapses on the couch across from Suki before turning the phone on. The battery is dangerously low, but it looks like there are several missed calls, and a text from someone named Mai. "Yeah. I guess I can wait for them to call back."

"How did you...find this phone?" Suki asks after a moment. 

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're asking."

"Uh huh. Sure." 

"I drove someone to class. Because I was being nice. But he..uh...he left his phone in my car. So." 

"Mhmm." Suki says, smirking before flipping to another page of her textbook. 

"...You sound skeptical. Why the skepticism?"

"I don't know, like...who was this person? How did he get in your car-"

"Okay-before you start-" Sokka interrupts, pulling out a charger from his backpack to salvage the mystery guy's phone. " it wasn't like that. At all. And I'm still not over Yue."

"Uh huh." 

"...He left me for a lacrosse player!" Sokka says. 

"...I remember." 

"I mean, he was pretty attractive. The guy. But, you know, I'm not really...worried about that. Right now. You know?"

"Yeah. Sure, love." Suki replies. 

Sokka is about to protest when the cracked mystery phone starts to ring. He yelps, almost dropping it but managing to save it by clutching the charger attached to it before it falls on the carpet. Not that mystery guy would notice one more crack anyway. But that's besides the point. 

"Who is this?" Sokka asks in a faux stern voice, earning a sigh of disappointment from Suki. "State your name and business, now." 

"Uh...Zuko. That's my name. And I...I don't have a business." Sokka decides right then and there that Sexy Emo Guy-sorry, Zuko-has the sexiest voice he's ever heard, especially over the phone. The sound of it, raspy and deep, sends Sokka's mind to places it should not be going on a Tuesday evening. 

"Nice to meet you, Zuko. The name's Sokka." 

"Nice to meet you. Anyway, I think you have my phone? Well-obviously you have my phone, since you picked up-uh...I'm calling from a friend's phone, and we used Find My iPhone...? And we...found you? I realize that sounds...creepy...so basically, she can drop me off, and I can go to where you are and meet you, since that's probably more convenient..." 

"Okay, sounds great!" Sokka responds. 

"...Alright...so...we'll be there in a minute. We were already on our way, so..." 

"Coolio. See ya!" Sokka hangs up the phone, racing to the bathroom.

"What-are you doing?" Suki calls out from the living room.

"I'm trying not to look like shit before Sexy Emo Guy-I mean, Zuko-comes over to get his phone back!" Sokka calls back, splashing water on his face. 

"Sexy Emo what now?"

"Not important!" 

"I knew you liked him!" Sokka ignores Suki's teasing, choosing instead to pat his face dry with a towel and smooth down his hair with his hands. He rolls a stick of deodorant under his arms for good measure, straightening out the sleeves of his jean jacket before smiling at himself in the mirror.

"Yup. Still got it." he says, winking and shooting finger guns at his reflection before shutting off the light and leaving the bathroom. 

"I heard a car pull up? I think they're outside-" Suki starts to say, but Sokka has already grabbed the phone and is out the door, shutting it behind him and watching as a black Lexus pulls up. 

And Zuko climbs out of the passenger's side, and Sokka reminds himself for about the thousandth time to stay calm. 

Zuko reaches Sokka, and the two of them stand there staring at each other for a few seconds. 

Zuko is doing that thing where he's stretched his sweater out so much that his hands aren't showing now, just the sleeves, and he's kind of swinging his arms and shuffling his feet and Sokka has this brief thought like-huh, he kind of looks like a penguin-but he decides to file that away under things he should never say out loud. 

"Hey. I'm Zuko. I guess I already said that...over the phone." Zuko says softly. 

"Hey Zuko. It's nice to meet you-again. I hope it wasn't too much trouble getting over here." 

No. Mai drove me, so it's all good. Thanks for the ride earlier. And sorry about my phone." Zuko says as Sokka hands it to him. 

"No worries! Hey-Unlock your phone for me real quick." Sokka says. Zuko obliges, and Sokka takes it back for a moment, quickly typing on it while Zuko watches him. 

"What are you doing?" Zuko asks. 

"I'm just putting my number in. In case you ever need it." Sokka says, smiling at him. Zuko doesn't respond, and Sokka panics for a brief moment, wondering if he misread this whole situation, when-

"...Okay. I'll text you so you have my number too. In case you ever need it." Zuko says, the beginning of a smile starting to appear on his face.

"Sure thing." Sokka says. The two of them stand there for a few more moments before Zuko starts walking backward, sliding his phone into his back pocket. 

"I should...go." Zuko says. 

"Sure! Yeah. Do whatever you gotta do." Sokka watches as Zuko reaches the car, and before he opens the door and gets in, he says something, so quiet that Sokka almost doesn't hear it.

"I hope to see you soon...Sokka."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for all my old readers-my old acct got hacked and my stories got deleted T_T i tried emailing support to no avail-but luckily i had the story saved to my computer so boyfies shall live on !! missed y’all :)


	3. do you listen to frank ocean?

~Zuko~

"I hope to see you soon? I hope to see you soon? Who says that! Stupid, stupid stupid!" Zuko yells, curling himself up into a ball in the passenger's seat. 

He can feel Mai watching him as she pulls out of the apartment complex. The disapproval is rolling off of her in waves, even as she sits there silently listening to Zuko's rambling. 

"And I could have, at least...I don't know, asked him out like a normal person. Ugh!!! Now he'll never talk to me again!!!" 

"Who ever said you were normal?" Mai mumbles under her breath. Zuko glares at her, but doesn't reply. He can't exactly disagree. 

"Anyway, " she adds. "What you said was fine. I don't see a problem with it. Just call him when you get home tonight. Ask him out."

"What?" Ask him out? The thought hadn't even crossed Zuko's mind. 

Ask someone out? He can do that? 

No. He can't. There's no way. 

Like, what is Zuko supposed to do? He doesn't know how to talk to men. Or anyone, for that matter.

Zuko has no friends. He only hangs out with his sister's friends, so he isn't exactly sure if he can call them his friends. And it's not like he's had any luck in romance. Like at all. Zuko had had a brief interest in Mai, but after quickly finding out that she is very much a lesbian, the two of them had decided to stand in wlw and mlm solidarity and become friends.

So it's safe to say that Zuko is feeling very out of his element, so to speak. 

"How do I...ask?"

"Just say I like your style. or: Do you listen to Girl in red? or whatever the equivalent is for y'all." Mai says as she makes a smooth right turn. 

"Okay. so...Um...Frank Ocean, I guess." Zuko says after a moment. 

"Yeah. Exactly." 

"Okay. So I'll be like-Hello. I'm Zuko. I like your style. Do you listen to Frank Ocean? Like that?"

"He already knows your name, so there's no need to reintroduce yourself. In fact, please don't. But yes." 

~~~~~~~~

After a very long and overly drawn out (and frankly, halfhearted) pep talk in the car, Mai drops Zuko home and drives off. 

Zuko lives in a one bedroom apartment by himself in downtown, several bus stops away from the central campus of Caldera University, the state flagship college of California. He didn't want to go to a giant state school-in fact, he had wanted to go to college in NYC, but his father was legacy here, and had forbid Zuko from going anywhere else. 

It wasn't that he wasn't "grateful". He...he was. His father was paying for his rent and his tuition after all. But he couldn't shake the memories of the past that still clung to him, reminders of his father's true nature underneath all the supposed generosity. Zuko winced as he checked his phone (the battery was dangerously low) and coincidentally saw a missed call from his father. 

He would call him back later. 

Today had been a trying day. As soon as Zuko had figured out that he had left his phone in Sokka's car, he had spent the day in a haze, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get it back. 

His professor was pissed at him for being almost-kinda-sorta late to his 9 am class, and a few students had given him strange looks as he sat down as his seat, because he definitely still sorta smelled like weed. 

He had known that his best bet was to find Mai at the end of the day and ask her to call his phone for him, but he only saw her around dinnertime. They usually would meet up on the steps of the History Building, where she took most of her classes, and catch up before she drove him home. So he had a few hours of misery he had to endure until then. 

To make matters even worse, Zuko had forgotten to charge his computer and his drawing tablet the night before, and he didn't bring the chargers for either. 

The professor had stared at him as Zuko had cursed under his breath, repeatedly pressing the power button on his laptop...during his 1pm digital drawing class. 

So yeah. It was one of those days. 

By the time 6pm had rolled around and he sat down on the steps of the History building waiting for Mai's class to end, Zuko was already beyond exhausted. He had a brief thought, that maybe he was over reliant on technology, since he had only gone a few hours without it and already his world felt like it was falling apart, but he decided not to worry about that for now. 

Mai had shown up about ten minutes later than usual, also decked out in all black. Her black demonia boots made her look several inches taller, and Zuko could count at least three new ear piercings since he had seen her on Thursday. 

They probably looked pretty tired and angsty, sitting on the steps in the evening like that. Which...which they were.

Luckily, once Zuko had explained the whole situation to her, she had been a saving grace, and now he was back home, safe and sound, phone in hand. 

Speaking of phones...he should probably stop procrastinating and call Sokka. 

Zuko sits there on his couch for a while, in the darkness, so very much alone, and so he decides to pull up Sokka's number, and he presses call and holds the phone up to his ear before he can think much about it.

Sokka picks up right away. 

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Sokka's says, and the sound of his voice causes Zuko's brain to go into overdrive and-yeah, he's completely forgotten everything he was about to say. "Did you miss me already?" 

Uh...

How is Zuko supposed to respond to that?

He figures a laugh was appropriate here, maybe? People laughed. But at the same time, he didn't want to force himself to laugh because that would sound strange. But at the same same time, he didn't want to say no I didn't, because that wasn't true, and that would be mean, but it also might not be mean because they just saw eachother? But they didn't see eachother for long...but at the same same same time, he doesn't want to say yes I did, because what if Sokka didn't and he did, and that would really be terrible-

"Hey, so...uh...do you listen to Frank Ocean, by chance?" Zuko ends up saying. 

Okay. That's an answer. He didn't answer the question. In fact, he answered the question with another question. 

But it's still an answer. 

"No. Sorry, man. I only listen to ska." Sokka responds. Zuko tenses up, and his face starts to feel hot. Okay, so that is very embarrassing. He definitely miscalculated things. Because on one hand, Sokka had been nice enough to drop Zuko off. But on the other hand, he honestly might have been doing it to be nice. But on the other other hand, he had given Zuko his number. But on the other other other hand...

"Oh." Zuko says. 

"But yes, I'm gay." Sokka says.

Oh. Nevermind then. 

"In that case-" 

"You like art right?" Sokka asks. 

"Uh...yes. How did you know-"

"I dropped you off at the Art Building, my guy." 

Oh. Right-" 

"And you like music. Like Frank Ocean. That's cool. So there's this band performing tomorrow night, if you're trying to go to that. " Sokka says.

"Uh...Okay-"

"Cool. Tomorrow at 6?"

"...Yeah-" 

"And you don't have a car, right?" 

"...No..." 

"Ah. So you're bi, then!"

"...Yeah-" 

"Okay, I'll pick you up, my guy. See ya then!" Sokka hangs up right after that, and Zuko blinks in confusion. 

Was that...was this...

Is Zuko going on a date?


	4. can i touch your louis vuitton belt?

~Sokka~

Sokka takes in Zuko all at once.

Well...he's not wearing all black this time.

Zuko's sweatshirt, Louis Vuitton belt, and Vans are black, but the button down underneath it, and his socks, are white, and his tailored pants are grey. He's wearing a bunch of rings on his fingers, and he's got a chain on his belt and a cross body fanny pack over his chest. 

Wow. Very trendy. 

"You look really good," Sokka says as soon as Zuko climbs into the passenger's seat. Zuko flinches, and slams the door so hard that Sokka's actually worried it might fall off. His Kia isn't exactly new. "Woah, careful there, buddy."

"Sorry," Zuko mumbles, not making eye contact. 

"I've never actually seen one of those belts up close before. I mean, all of the Econ dude bros have one, but I've never actually been this close to one." Sokka says as he puts his sunglasses back on. The California sun is unrelenting, even in the evening. Sokka can't wait for winter to roll around so he can get some relief from the heat. 

"Can I touch your Louis Vuitton belt?" Sokka decides to add. 

"Huh?" Zuko snaps his head up, finally looking at Sokka, and Sokka realizes that he keeps forgetting to ask Zuko if he wears colored contacts, because there's no way his eyes can be that pretty, right? There's no way they can be that impossible gold color, kind of like the color of the sun when it sets, and hey, maybe Sokka doesn't hate the sun or the fall or the unrelenting heat so much after all-

"Yeah," Sokka replies. He's dug himself this deep already, he might as well bury himself under completely. He thinks that if Suki were here, he would probably get a lecture about a filter, and about...having one...and about the fact that he...doesn't have one. 

But she's not here, so...

Oh well. 

"Yeah, so anyway, can I? It's completely fine if you don't feel comfortable, whatever you feel comfortable with, please let me know if I'm overstepping my boundaries, I want to make sure that-" 

The last thing Sokka expects is for Zuko to hold Sokka's hand and move it so that it's touching his belt. 

Sokka's not sure where to go from here, and so he traces the silver belt buckle with his fingers. 

"Wow. Very...uh...very trendy." Sokka whispers

"Oh yeah?" Zuko whispers. 

"Yup. Very very very trendy. Expensive." Sokka whispers before letting go. 

And now Sokka is wondering: how is he supposed to pay attention to ska, how is he supposed to listen to the sweet sound of ska, when the sight of Zuko holding his hand and moving it over is imprinted on his mind? How is he supposed to jam out to some sweet ska tunes when the sound of Zuko saying oh yeah? keeps assaulting his ears, keeps replaying in his brain as they drive to the venue?

Sokka wonders if Zuko realizes that he says these kinds of things sometimes, like the yes sir and the oh yeah?, and Sokka wonders if Zuko realizes how raspy his voice is, and Sokka wonders if Zuko realizes how good it sounds over the phone, and Sokka wonders if Zuko realizes that when he breathes deeply he doesn't pull the phone away from his ear at all, like maybe he should pull his phone away from his ear when he's breathing into it, you know, for Sokka's sake, although for Sokka's sake maybe he shouldn't, and maybe Sokka shouldn't have hung up so quickly last night, but it doesn't matter because Zuko's here now so it doesn't really matter-

And then Sokka says something he really shouldn't say. 

"So...you're packing, huh?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Like-you're loaded. Like you have money. That's cool." 

Okay. Alright. Smooth recovery. 

Good job, Sokka. 

"I mean...I guess so." Zuko says this somewhat under his breath, and Sokka can sense contempt in his voice. He is looking down, his hands clenched into fists as he speaks. "My family is, at least."

Okay. So family is a touchy subject. Noted. That definitely won't be a point of conflict in the future.

Definitely not. 

"I see...so you're my sugar daddy, then?" Sokka says. 

"No. I'm not."

"I'm...I'm pretty sure you are-"

"I'm absolutely not-" 

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure...I'm not your....sugar whatever." 

"Okay, then I guess I'll just call you daddy then-"

"DONT CALL ME THAT!!!"

"Okay, I won't."

"..."

''..."

"..."

"..."

"...Daddy." 

"..."

"...so...you gonna pay my tuition, daddy?"

"...I hate you."

~~~~~~~

Yes. Sokka is in his element. 

The smell of sweat and beer permeates through the air as they enter the venue. The place is already packed, the mass of bodies making it difficult for Zuko and Sokka to wade their way to the front of the pit. There have to be at least a hundred people here, but the venue still feels intimate, and the feeling of excitement and anticipation is infectious. 

"Should we just give up?" Zuko asks, yelling to be heard over the pre show music.

"No way, my guy! We're getting to the front!" Sokka responds, tugging on Zuko's arm. Slowly but surely, they push their way closer and closer to the front of the stage. Sokka's done this plenty of times. 

You could say he's a ska concert connoisseur. 

Actually, please say that. Please tell him that. It would probably make him pretty happy. 

"Woah-excuse me, my dude," Sokka says as he slides past a middle aged white guy with a mullet who is giving the two of them a nasty glare. 

Actually, he's pretty sure alot of the people here are white and are giving Sokka and Zuko a nasty glare, but hey, what's new. 

Finally, the duo makes it to the front of the pit, so close that they could rest their elbows on the stage if they wanted to. Luckily, the people at the front of the crowd surrounding them are younger, and look more like Sokka and Zuko, which is comforting. 

Somewhere in the midst of the struggle, Zuko's arm ended up linked with Sokka's, so now they look like some kind of gay 19th century Victorian BIPOC power couple. 

You know, one of those gay 19th century Victorian BIPOC power couples. 

It looks like the two of them have arrived just in time, because the stage goes dark for a second before Sokka hears drums and then finally, the sound of The Lampshades (his favorite band) fills his ears as the lead singer screams into the mic as the stage is surrounded by light. 

The lead guitarist riffs over the steady rhythm of the drums, the lead singer's warbled voice complimenting perfectly with the trumpeter and the rest of the horn section. Even though The Lampshades are a relatively new band, it's clear they're inspired by the ska classics, like The Wailers and The Skatalities. Sokka thinks it's all so spectacular and First Wave. 

"What do you think of the band!" Sokka yells at Zuko after a while.

"It's...It's loud!" Zuko yells back, but Sokka can barely hear him. 

"What'd you say?

"I said it's loud! The band is just-very loud!"

"What? DID YOU SAY I LOVE? As in...YOU LOVE THE BAND? AS IN YOU LOVE SKA???" 

"UH...YEAH!...SURE!..." 

"AWESOME!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!" Sokka yells at the top of his lungs. 

Unfortunately for Sokka, the band had just finished their first song before Sokka said what he said, and the crowd hadn't had time to clap yet, and so for a split second in time all anyone in the entire venue can hear is Sokka yelling "AWESOME!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!" 

A few of the people surrounding Sokka turn to look at him with blank faces. 

Eventually the drummer chokes the cymbal on his drum set, and yells out: 

"I'M HAPPY TOO!" 

After a few moments, the crowd starts to get louder, and a few people add some insights of their own: 

"SO AM I!!!"

"SAME!!!"

"I'M QUITE HAPPY AS WELL!!!"

"I FEEM SIMILARLY!!!"

"I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HAPPY MAN!!!" 

"SHIT...I'M JUST HAPPY YOU'RE HERE, MAN!!!"

"NO MAN...I'M HAPPY YOU'RE HERE!!!" 

"SHIT IM GONNA CRY-COME HERE, MAN!!!"

"NO, YOU COME HERE!"

"MAKE ME!"

And in the span of ten seconds, the crowd erupts into chaos. 

People start hugging each other, the smell of sweat only intensifying, and-are people crying? Sokka's not sure what's happening. There's just alot of shouting and noise and "I love you man" and "I love you, human" and it's all so very disorienting. 

In the scuffle, someone jostles Zuko from behind, and suddenly him and Sokka are pressed together, and the music is loud, really really loud, and Zuko leans in and suddenly Sokka can hear him loud and clear in his ear: 

"I liked it, by the way."

"Huh?"

"When you touched my belt."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"...Okay."

"Yeah...So just let me know whenever you want to...touch my belt again." 

Sokka realizes he's treading dangerous waters already, that he's in treacherous territory, because he hasn't felt this way since Yue, because he shouldn't be thinking about Yue but he is, because this is a ska date, because they're at a ska concert, because he shouldn't be thinking this way because it's too soon, way too soon, because first dates are supposed to suck but this doesn't, like this is supposed to be terrible, but it isn't, because he's liking things about Zuko that shouldn't matter but they do, like the way he walks and the way he breathes and his inability to refrain from stretching out his sweatshirts. 

"Shit..." Sokka says, and he wraps his arms around Zuko's waist as the sound of electric guitar fills his ears once again.


	5. the ska date pt II

~Zuko~

Zuko should have told Sokka that he looked good right? On the way to the concert, right? Like when Sokka traced Zuko's belt buckle with his fingers and said Zuko was packing? He should have been like right back at you or something (oh god imagine if he had said that thank goodness he didn't say that), right? And it's way too late now, right?

Right?

And now they have their arms wrapped around each other in what has essentially now become a mosh pit, except it's not a mosh pit, because it's full of people hugging and crying and there are so many white men in their forties and lots of mullets and cigarette smoke and denim and sweat and-Zuko is very confused as to why Sokka is so obsessed with ska.

And now Zuko isn't sure when he should let go, or how he could possibly let go since they're being pinned at all sides by the crowd, and everything is very loud, and did he seriously just tell Sokka you can touch my belt anytime you want like-he meant it, but-why does Zuko say such embarrassing things around Sokka, and maybe Sokka doesn't even like him, like maybe he's annoyed right now like ew Zuko go away I'm trying to listen to ska and how can Zuko run away like what's the best escape route in this situation and-basically it's safe to say that Zuko is currently in a state of panic. 

Maybe this would be a good time to say something about Sokka's appearance? 

"Hey, Uh-you look...well rested!" 

Nice, Zuko. Nailed it. 

"I'm not well rested at all...you know, Econ Major-but thanks, my guy!" 

If Sokka says "my guy" one more time, then Zuko just might spontaneously combust...

Out of happiness because he loves being called my guy. 

It makes Zuko start thinking things, like-

If Sokka calls anyone else my guy, like if that's a thing he says to everyone or if that's his nickname just for Zuko (it must be made just for Zuko, right, because Sokka called that other guy "my dude" instead of "my guy" earlier, so it must be reserved just for him), and if the word my means anything, like if Sokka-like if he-like if they...like if Sokka wants Zuko to be his one day. 

Finally the crowd starts to untangle itself, and the band starts back up again, and there is no longer any reason for Sokka and Zuko to be this close anymore, and so they let go, and it's only after the fact that Zuko thinks would that have been a good time to kiss him?

No. Probably not. Probably not at the front of a stage in the midst of a faux mosh pit at a ska concert. 

~~~~~

Finally, after standing for two hours listening to what Zuko is convinced was the exact same song played in an endless loop, the two find themselves back in Sokka's car, and that makes Zuko very happy. Zuko likes Sokka's car. Zuko understands Sokka's car. Here, he doesn't have to deal with things that could distract or overwhelm him, like a bunch of other people, because sometimes people are just...alot. 

"You sure you're okay with driving me back home?" Zuko asks. 

"Of course!"

"Oh-cool-okay, because I don't want you to feel like I'm like, a burden-"

"Of course not-"

"Like, you're not my chauffeur-"

"I would be honored to be your chauffeur." Sokka says confidently, 

"Ha. Okay. Thanks. Sorry." 

"You don't have to apologize, for like, me doing something for you, you know? Like-driving you home is not a strange thing for me to do in this situation," Sokka says.

"No. I get it. I'm just not...used to this kind of situation." 

"Oh?" Sokka says in that way people do when they're pretending not to care or listen when in that very moment they care oh so very much and are listening very very closely. 

"Yeah. I've never been in this kind of situation. Like, ever. This is my first...situation." Zuko manages to say, and he feels so stupid because why can't he just say the words, why can't he just be like so, is this a date? Like, is this a first date? are we dating now? is this a thing? are we eventually going to get married and buy a brownstone in Brooklyn together and raise children or something just kidding ahhahahahahah- 

"I gotcha. Hearing you loud and clear." Sokka says, giving a salute. Zuko feels like he's imagining things, he hopes he's imagining things, but he senses a bit of apprehension in Sokka's voice. But no, nah, no way, he's definitely imagining things. "Welp-you could say I've been in a few situations. Some were great. Some-you know-left me feeling like my heart had been torn out from my body. Ahahahaha." 

"I see." Zuko says. 

"Yeah...My ex boyfriend left me for a lacrosse player."

"..."

"..."

"...That's rough-"

"It's okay. I'm over it now." 

"Oh. cool." Zuko says. 

"Yeah. He's an asshole. I haven't seen him in months, you know. And I'm glad I haven't. What a jerk. You know. Just like-he's terrible. Like he's actually not the greatest person, you know. And to top it all off...he's in a frat, Zuko, can you believe that? I used to date someone in a frat. Unless-sorry if you're in a frat, I didn't mean to offend-" 

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not a frat bro." 

"Ha." 

"Yeah. Shocking, I know." Zuko says.

"Yeah...it's funny...he actually took me to a ska concert for our first date."

"...Oh?" 

"Yeah. He-Yue, his name is Yue, I don't know if you know him, alot of people know him, I guess he's popular on campus or whatever, like whatever the fuck that means, it doesn't really fucking matter-"

"I don't know him." Zuko says. 

"Oh, okay, anyway-he loves ska. The last thing he left in my car after we broke up was this cd called "The Essential Ska Classics," and I hated when he played it, because I was like who listens to ska? Or cds? Or ska on cds? but anyway...I thought about texting him to have him pick it up, but I never wanted to see him again. And so I almost threw it away but I ended up listening to it again. One last time, you know. Like a send off. And suddenly it was like the memories came rushing back. It's like this piece of time that I can hold in my hands, I guess. A reminder that yes, this happened. This was real. I know it's stupid."

"It's not stupid. Thanks for telling me." 

"Of course. And...you're here now, so it's all good! It worked out!" Sokka says.

Zuko isn't sure how that feels, knowing that Sokka's obsession with ska is directly correlated with an ex he clearly isn't over, and that Sokka was maybe kinda sorta taking Zuko on this date as a replacement for said ex instead of asking what Zuko actually wanted to do?

But Zuko figures he will file that problem away for a later date. 

This is definitely not something that he's going to let fester and then one day get super angry about it and explode, right?

Nah. definitely not. 

"Could I suggest something for our second da...uh, I...for our next...outing?" Zuko mumbles under his breath, trying and failing utterly at sounding casual, because-like-outing? That's what he decided to go with? Outing? 

"Whatcha got, buddy?"

"Um...I like eating food, and drinking things. Or eating and drinking at the same time. Like boba. Or...uh...mayyybe...we could watch a play-"

"I tried that whole boba thing. I didn't vibe with it though. Those little balls-" 

"You mean tapioca pearls-" 

"Yeah, those-they kept getting stuck around my throatal flap." Sokka says, wincing as if the memory haunts him. 

"...Throatal flap?" Zuko asks, vaguely concerned. 

"Yeah! You know, that thing in the back of your throat. A throatal flap!"

"You mean your uvula." 

"Ewwww....uvula..." Sokka says, making a disgusted face. 

"Its okay. We dont have to get boba if you don't like it."

"Are you kidding? Of course we do." Sokka says.

And then Sokka adds something, almost a second too late, that shatters Zuko apart in a terribly wonderful way. 

"Anything for you, my guy." 

Okay see this is where Zuko has problems, where Sokka says things like that, things like anything for you- things that he can't possibly mean right because how he could he possibly mean that cause he probably says that to everyone (even though that's an extremely serious thing to say but maybe Zuko's just a words matter type person and Sokka isn't, Zuko has no fucking clue)-also maybe Zuko is just over thinking things because Sokka didnt say I would do anything for you and that's very different and arguably more personal than Anything for you which is just a thing people say, because the "I would do" in I would do anything for you implies ownership and accountability and action, and you and I, and you and me, and the things that I would do for you, and with you, and because of you, and the things I would do to you, and the things that you would do to me-

"...He dumped me at Boiling Rock." Sokka says, interrupting Zuko's frantic inner monologue. 

"...Who?"

"Yue." 

Oh. We're still talking about the ex? 

Okay. 

"Oh. right. Yue." Zuko says. 

"Yeah."

"Nooo, not at Boiling Rock." Zuko has never been to Boiling Rock, because, again, he's not a frat star. But he does know enough to know that it's the biggest party of the year, and it goes down every spring, around April-ish, right before finals, at the Agna Agna Agna house (Triple A for short), and it usually ends at like 5 am with alot of vomit and ambulances and tears. 

Zuko's kind of shocked to hear that Sokka would even go, or that he used to date a frat guy, cause that doesn't seem like his thing. But then again, his car does constantly reek of weed, so...maybe Zuko should have seen that coming. 

"Yup, at Boiling Rock." 

"That's brutal." 

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

~~~~

It hasn't even been five minutes after Zuko shuts the front door, runs to his room, and belly flops onto his bed when he checks his phone and sees a text on the screen from Sokka. 

And he swears he feels his heart stop when he reads the message:

You should have kissed me :') 

Zuko fucking forgot. He didn't fucking kiss him. Shit. 

Zuko had it all planned out too-He was gonna look Sokka in the eyes and be like Thanks for the ride in a very cool way, you, know, in a very suave, nonchalant way, like he doesn't really care but he does, like thanks for the ride and then he was gonna lean in and-boom-kissing would occur. 

But the conversation in the car kind of got derailed and now it's way too late right and now Sokka probably never wants to talk to Zuko again, right? 

Get back here, then... Zuko texts back, half-joking, like very not serious. 

~~~~

And so Zuko, who was very not serious when he sent the text that he sent, flinches as he hears the sound of screeching tires outside his apartment several minutes later. 

"Were you home already?" Zuko asks as he meets Sokka outside. Sokka climbs out of his Kia, and he shuts the door behind him before holding up two cans and two packs of candy.

"Nah, I was at the gas station. But I would have come back even if I was home. Look. I have snacks. Four Loko and gummy worms. We could...uh. Sit on the hood of the car and eat them. Have ourselves a little feast." 

"That sounds fun." 

"Cool. Come here, I want to take care of something for a second." Sokka says, placing the snacks on the hood of the car. 

Zuko obliges, walking towards Sokka, and suddenly time stops and everything freezes because the two of them are close and then they're so close and then they're so so close and then they're so so so close and-

Oh. So this is what it feels like. 

Kissing someone you really like is like the fucking storybooks this is why people write fucking songs and plays and musicals and books and Zuko never got it, Zuko thought they were exaggerating, Zuko kissed one person while he was drunk at a party a year ago and thought that that was all kissing was and vowed never to get close to anyone ever again but Zuko gets it, now he really gets it. 

Sokka's lips are surprisingly soft and Zuko doesn't know where to put his hands so he leaves them on Sokka's shoulders and hopes that's okay, and he realizes how strong Sokka's shoulders feel under the denim jacket he always wears, and Sokka kind of smells like pine trees but Zuko now knows that the smell isn't pine trees, like maybe it's his car air freshener but it's also probably weed, or both, and hey maybe Zuko wouldn't mind smoking weed with Sokka, but then again, Zuko would probably do anything for Sokka at this point, like-did Sokka want the two of them to rob a bank? they could rob a bank.

Yeah Zuko would definitely rob a bank if that meant that their tongues would intertwine, if that meant that Sokka would never stop running his fingers through Zuko's hair, if that meant that Sokka would trap Zuko's bottom lip with his teeth and tug lightly before soothing the area with another soft kiss. 

And now Sokka's mouth is on Zuko's neck and-

"Ohhhhhh-" Zuko says. 

"Yup."

"Wow."

"Yup. That's my signature move." Sokka says proudly in between kisses. 

"I really really really like your signature move. You should have it trademarked." 

"Sokka's Signature Move, All Rights Reserved." 

The two of them let go and suddenly Zuko feels cold, and he's wondering, like, why are we not kissing, and why have we not been kissing this whole time, and like why the fuck would we ever stop? 

"Yikes," Sokka says, his fingers pressed against a spot on Zuko's neck. "That might leave a mark. Sorry." 

What Zuko wants to say is: I really could fucking care less you can leave as many marks as you want you can mark me the fuck up but what he actually ends up saying is: "No worries." 

"Cool. Now that that's taken care of...let's eat." Sokka says. 

Zuko and Sokka sit on the hood of Sokka's car and crack open their Four Lokos and gummy worms, and Zuko's wondering how he's supposed to look at Sokka the same, because he's never been in this situation before, and he's wondering what the next step is here, but Sokka looks relatively unaffected as he is currently trying to see if he can connect each of the gummy worms in his pack of gummy worms so that he can make one long gummy worm out of the gummy worms in his pack of gummy worms. 

So people really just kiss other people and make them unable to form coherent thoughts and leave marks on their skin and call it their signature move and then continue speaking to said people as if nothing ever happened, as if the world hasn't just been rearranged?

Hmm. Okay. The more you know. 

It makes Zuko wonder if that kiss made him feel too much, like if he's feeling too much, like more than he should feel, and he really shouldn't. Because Zuko hasn't felt anything in a long time, because Zuko has been numb for a long time, and now Sokka is making Zuko feel things he doesn't know if he should feel. 

And it also makes Zuko wonder if he's feeling more than Sokka's feeling, because this is Zuko's first situation, and maybe he's making this bigger than it is, maybe he's making this bigger than it should be, like if Zuko told Sokka I want to keep kissing you and never stop Sokka would probably be like woah, chill out my guy right, but also Sokka did drive back in the opposite direction for a kiss so maybe he wouldn't tell Zuko to chill out, but maybe that didn't mean anything, maybe that was just another signature move or something. 

And Zuko is noticing things now, like so many things. Like Zuko notices that Sokka always wears that silver cross earring and Zuko really likes that earring, and that his hair is always tied in a wolf tail and it shouldn't look good but it really does, and Zuko wants to see Sokka with his hair down and run his hands through it, and Zuko notices that Sokka is wearing joggers and dress shoes and a button down and he dresses and acts like someone who is really happy and Zuko wonders what that's like, to be really happy, to be someone who drives several minutes in the opposite direction just to kiss someone. 

And of course Zuko wonders other things, like if he's even worth driving in the opposite direction just to kiss, and he tells himself not to think that way, he tells himself not to think that he's not worthy, he tells himself not to think that he's not deserving, he tells himself not to think, because he goes to therapy and shit so he knows he shouldn't be thinking that way but sometimes he does. 

So maybe right now, Zuko can pretend. Maybe right now the past can be the past, and he can just be a guy sitting on the hood of another guy's car, drinking Four Loko and eating gummy worms and trying to connect each of the gummy worms to make one long gummy worm, and maybe he can just be a college student, and maybe he can be just a little bit tipsy and maybe he can look up at the sky and say "Wow-the sky is so big." and Sokka will say: "It is, buddy. It really is." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for newcomers, i hope you’re enjoying the story so far ! comments and things make my day :)


	6. why are you straight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy meeting some familiar faces :)

~Sokka~

Wow. Alot happened and Sokka is still processing. 

These are some of the things that Sokka is still processing: 

-Zuko wanting to go out on another outing 

-Zuko texting get back here then 

-Zuko saying ohhh 

-Zuko liking Sokka's signature move

-Zuko helping Sokka connect gummy worms to make one long gummy worm 

-Zuko not texting Sokka for two and a half weeks 

-Zuko Zuko Zuko. 

But Sokka doesn't have any more time to process, not for right now, because right now he is standing in the middle of a dorm room and his sister is crying. 

It's not Katara's dorm room-this is a freshman dorm and Katara is not a freshman. Katara is a sophomore and Katara has a 4.0 and Katara always dresses and acts like she's going to an art museum (like for what, what is the reason) and Katara is living in some fancy 8 bedroom house with 7 other people, and it's fully paid for by the University, and it's basically a smart house for smart people, or a "Living and Learning Community" or something, Sokka has no idea. It's all very annoying. 

So no, this isn't Katara's dorm, it's Aang's dorm, and so it's Sokka and Aang and Katara and another person in tinted sunglasses that Sokka has never seen before and also a giant white dog named Appa and a guinea pig named Momo and Sokka has no idea what's going on. 

"Okay-this is too chaotic and I am leaving-" Sokka starts to turn around to leave, but the new person starts yelling very loudly and it makes him very scared for a brief moment. 

"HEY ASSFACE YOUR SISTER IS CRYING AND YOU'RE JUST GONNA LEAVE? HOW HEARTLESS COULD YOU BE?!!!" 

"...Have we even met? I'm very confused." Sokka says. The new person holds their hand up in a mini salute, and they are wearing clothes that Sokka can only describe as grandparent clothes. Like, Sokka is 99 percent sure he's only seen grandparents wear them. We're talking white tennis shoes and socks, tweed pants, the ugliest sweater ever made-the whole nine yards. 

"Hey, what's poppin. I'm Toph, they/she. I'm Aang's roommate, and I'm in English class. with Katara. I actually introduced the two of them. Don't mean to brag." the new person says, pointing in Katara and Aang's general direction.

"Hey Toph what's poppin I'm Sokka he/him. Why have we never met if you're Aang's roommate? And why is my sister crying?" Sokka instantly locks eyes with Aang, and he's very suspicious because he's not too fond of the guy, so he wouldn't be surprised if he pulled some kind of stunt...

Actually, he would be surprised. Aang is literally a bald Vegan Socialist Pacifist and he exclusively wears cable knit sweaters. So no. He probably didn't make Katara cry. 

"My life is hidden underneath a shroud of mystery, Katara's brother."

"...Okay." Sokka says, because he has absolutely no idea what to say. 

"And by that I mean Aang and I had a fight when we first moved in so I've been living underneath an overpass until now."

"But it's mid October." Sokka says. 

"Uh huh." Toph says. 

"So you're telling me that you've been living underneath an overpass for the past two months?" 

"..." 

"..."

"...No." 

"..."

"...Don't worry about it. Anyway, your sister's crying because Mr. Shitty Frat Guy broke up with her." Toph says, lying down on her bed and burrowing their feet underneath the blankets. "At least she sounds like she's crying. I can't exactly tell," they say, gesturing to her tinted glasses. 

"I am crying, Toph. Thanks for letting him know so I don't have to...talk about it," Katara says. She sitting on the other bed next to Aang, and Aang's got his arm wrapped around her and hey something fishy is going on and Sokka's not buying Aang's whole "I'm just Katara's best friend" act- 

Well. Anyway. Sokka definitely saw that coming. Jet is an asshole. But he figures he probably shouldn't say it out loud. 

"Want me to beat his ass for you?" Sokka offers. He can't exactly fight, but he'll certainly try. Sokka sits down on the floor, yelping as Appa starts licking at his face very aggressively, which Sokka doesn't exactly appreciate. "Um-why is your giant bear dog like this?" 

"He's a Great Pyrenees," Aang says happily. Which is annoying to Sokka, because Aang is never not happy.

"Katara, can I ask both of you a serious question?" Toph says. 

"Yeah?" Katara responds warily, wiping away tears. 

"Why are you straight? Like...is there a reason?"

"No. There's no reason. It's just unfortunate." Katara replies. 

"I thought so." 

"Here's what I don't get:" Katara says, and she's doing the Arthur fists, like wow she must be real mad cause Sokka has never seen anyone do that in real life- "I sat there, and I listened to him talk for HOURS about his stupid Agna Agna whatever frat, and I listened to all his shower thoughts for months and I did the whole good girlfriend bullshit, and then he fucking breaks up with me?"

"Uh huh, and that's your Cancer sun, and that's the problem," Toph says. "Everyday with him you were like, okay, so you were born, and then what happened? Tell me all about your trauma." 

"Is that a bad thing?" Katara asks. 

"Of course not! I think that's a great thing, that you care about others," Aang says. 

"Well, apparently it wasn't enough for him," Katara says. She lets out a frustrated yell, loud enough that Momo jumps from within his cage. Sokka is able to fend off Appa so that he can crawl over to the cage and say hi to his favorite person-well, guinea pig. Apparently Aang smuggled the animals in here, and he could get in serious trouble if anyone knew that they were in the dorm, but...that's neither here nor there. "I did the whole doting partner thing, but every time I would voice my fucking opinion he'd be like you talk too much. Like...excuse me?" 

"And that's the thing with cishet men," Toph says, holding a hand to their mouth to stifle a yamn, "They think this is fucking Build a Bear. Like, no Chad, absolutely not. I don't know where they get the audacity." 

"There's actually a guy named Chad in Jet's frat," Katara sats after a moment, chuckling softly. "He's the President, I think? So that's pretty funny." 

"No fucking way." Toph says. 

"Yes way." 

"Okay, that's it!" Toph jumps out of bed, and everyone jolts because they were very much not expecting that. "We gotta do something! We gotta show these assholes that they can't mess with us!!!" 

"What's your plan?" Sokka asks, somewhat invested now. 

"LETS EGG THEIR HOUSE!" Toph yells, grinning. 

Hmmm. Egging the Triple A House? This is a plan Sokka could get behind. 

"You know what..." Sokka says slowly., "That's not a bad plan." 

"As long as we act quickly, we should be able to get some revenge." Katara adds, and the three of them start nodding in silence and it gets a little creepy for a moment. 

"Hold on guys..." Aang says. "You're not serious about this, are you? What exactly would vandalizing property solve?" 

"Um...is it really vandalizing property?" Katara asks. 

"Uh, yes. Absolutely." 

"...Is it really?" 

"Like I said the first time, yes." Aang says, clearly annoyed now. 

"But do you really think a frat is going to report us? Us? Who knows how many crimes they're guilty of. Underage drinking, drug abuse...I mean.." Katara says, shrugging. 

"So now we're adding blackmail to the list?" 

"Shh shh shh. Don't worry about it," Toph says to Aang. Aang throws his hands up in the air in apparent exasperation, but since he's Aang, he can only get so angry. 

"I don't even have any eggs in the dorm, and I wouldn't want to use eggs anyway. And I don't have a car so I can't get us there. So..." Aang says as a last ditch effort to get them to back out. 

Katara and Toph both look at Sokka. 

Sokka dangles his car keys in the air, grinning.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." 

~ 

Sokka, Toph, and Aang sit in Sokka's car, right at the curb in front of the Agna Agna Agna house. The house is an extremely obnoxious house, and it used to be white but now it's grey from all the terrible things it's been through, and it's three floors with a balcony overlooking the lacrosse field and there are moldy brown couches on the front lawn and red Solo cups littering the grass, presumably from last weekend's party. Sokka puts his phone on speaker phone so that Aang and Toph can hear. 

"Yo, are you in position?" Sokka asks.

"Hell yes. Let's do this," Katara says. 

"Alright yall. You know what to do," Sokka says. And with that, Sokka, Toph, and Aang each reach down and lift up a large bag of ground up guinea pig feed, and at that exact moment Katara turns on the sprinklers and leaps out of the way, they start tossing the feed out of the window. 

The feed goes flying, and, propelled by the water, sprays all over the lawn, coating the couches, hitting the windows on the first floor, and leaving an acrid nasty smell in the air. 

"That went...better than I expected," Sokka muses to himself, pleasantly surprised. 

Katara climbs into the car, relatively unscathed, and at the same time, Jet and Chad come storming out of the house, and Sokka realizes for a second like aw they're wearing matching burgundy shirts, but then Sokka's also like fuck you Jet for being a manipulative, cheating asshole. 

"BRO-DID YOU JUST VANDALIZE OUR HOUSE?" Jet yells. 

"YEAH BRO!" Sokka yells back. 

"NOT COOL, BRO!" Chad yells.

"YOU MESSED WITH MY SISTER BRO! THAT'S NOT FUCKING COOL, BRO!" Sokka yells back. 

Jet reels back, and quite literally stomps his foot like a child. Chad puts a hand on his shoulder to try to cool him down, but he shakes him off and paces back and forth for a while, watching as the water from the sprinklers starts turning their front lawn into one giant puddle. 

Sokka wonders why they haven't already turned the sprinkler off yet, but he quickly realizes that they probably don't even know where it is or they simply haven't thought of it. 

"FUCK YOU GUYS! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING TO BOILING ROCK! THAT'S RIGHT, YOU'RE FUCKING BLACK LISTED FROM THE BIGGEST PARTY OF THE YEAR!" Jet yells again, much louder this time.

"Wow. Oh no. That's awful." Everyone in the car says in unison. 

"That's-that's right, it is! I don't even care if you can name five brothers, you're still not getting in! And we're getting revenge!" Jet says, way less confident." 

"Oh. Okay." everyone in the car says. At this point, no one is really sure of what to do, and so everyone in the car just kind of stares at Chad and Jet, and Chad and Jet just kind of stand there. 

What are you supposed to do after vandalizing houses? Would this be a good time to mention the blackmail? 

They really should be teaching these kinds of things in schools. 

And then Sokka sees someone coming out of the house and he knows who it is before they even come into complete focus, because he knows them, because he knows how their hair feels between his fingers and how their lips feel against his skin and so Sokka steps on the gas and everyone in the car yelps but Sokka doesn't slow down because he almost saw Yue again, and because a part of him didn't want Yue to see him doing what he just did, because apart of him felt embarrassed even though he shouldn't, even though Sokka should be able to look at Yue and feel nothing at all, and as everyone erupts into laughter and starts talking and yelling and telling Sokka he's the man, that he's the Idea Guy, all Sokka can think on the drive back to dorms is I wish Zuko was here I wish Zuko was here Zuko Zuko Zuko.


	7. colon apostrophe end parentheses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you’re enjoying so far ! just a heads up-ozai is featured in the beginning of the chapter and he is a terrible, toxic father. the rest of the chapter is sweet tho, promise !!

~Zuko~ 

"Zuko, my boy! What is up, son!" 

Zuko's father is sitting on the couch, making his way through a bottle of 52 year old whiskey, his tailored Stuart Hughes suit slightly wrinkled as he watches some trashy dating show on tv. 

Zuko told himself that he would keep this visit short. Five minutes max, that's how long he'd stay for. Five minutes. Mai is waiting in the car after all. Zuko doesn't see why he has to drive out half an hour just to ask for some money for a new phone. That seems like way too much for his father to ask.

Zuko's dad is in the first living room. He likes it more, apparently, because if he focuses hard enough he can see the front of the house, and he can make sure there aren't any cars driving into their driveway. Not that there would be any cars, besides Mai's maybe. There's no way they could get past the gate. And anyway, Ozai's Bugatti was tucked away in the garage somewhere, and the house has an alarm system, so Zuko isn't really sure what his concern is. 

Zuko's mother likes to sit in the second living room. Zuko's not sure what she does there, but according to Ozai, she likes the peace and quiet. 

"Hey," Zuko says, and decides to get straight to the point. "My phone finally died out on me, and I really...I need a new one, you know. So...I was wondering-" 

"Oh, so you broke your phone, huh?" Ozai says. His voice sounds nonchalant, but Zuko can hear something bubbling under the surface. Zuko really doesn't want to deal with this today, and he doesn't want to keep Mai waiting. Luckily, Zuko is a master at detecting every single micro expression on his father's face. He can figure out the trajectory of every single conversation within the first few seconds, and he makes sure to adjust accordingly. 

"Oh, you know how it is. I've had it for a few years now," Zuko says. 

"And you keep dropping it, right?" Ozai continues. 

"Yeah, that's true," Zuko says. He knows where this is going. 

"Well, I guess I can't expect much more from you right?" Ozai says, his voice colder than ice. He takes another swig of his scotch.

That's the good thing about Zuko's dad. He's predictable. Zuko was expecting this. This is how the majority of their conversations go. Ozai asks some seemingly innocuous questions, Zuko answers them, Zuko uses said answers, and basically anything Zuko ever says, against him (sometimes months, even years later) in an attempt to hurt Zuko and get him to yell, cry, etc. 

You know, normal parent stuff. 

"Yup," Zuko says, completely deadpan. "That's me. Useless. Can't expect much more." Usually, if he remains unaffected, then Ozai eventually gets bored and moves on. The worst thing Zuko could do would be to yell or cry. Whenever he does that, Ozai gets this sinister look on his face, like he's won. Zuko can't let him win. 

Ozai lets out a laugh so loud it echoes across the entire room. 

"Come on, I'm just joking. Why can't anyone take a joke around here? You're just like your mother, you know that?"

"Where is mom, by the way?" Zuko asks, choosing to ignore everything Ozai just said. 

"Don't worry about where that woman is. What, you care about seeing her more than me or something? Catching up with your old man isn't enough for you?" Ozai says, smiling wide enough so that his bright white teeth are on display. "Damn, you know you should try to be more like? Not that you could, of course." 

"...No. Who."

"Those guys at Kappa Nu. They could take a joke. I miss my brothers. Kap Nu!!!" Ozai yells Kap Nu in that voice, that really loud annoying voice, like he just needs to take up space, like he needs 100,000 sq feet of space, like all 17,000 sq feet of this fucking house isn't enough. "When are you gonna join a frat, by the way? You can't go to my college and not join a frat." 

"I'm a senior," Zuko says simply, as if that's the only reason why he hasn't. And it isn't your school. You don't, like, own the school is what Zuko wants to say. And what about your actual brother? Do you care about him? is also what Zuko wants to say. And he could say that. But that would just result in hours of yelling and who knows what else and Zuko can't deal with it right now so he stays silent. 

"Alright, here ya go, son," Ozai says, sliding a white box across the coffee table. "iPhone. Latest model. Just put your SIM card in that and you're ready to go." Zuko takes the box before Ozai can change his mind. "You have a way to get home?" 

"Mai's driving me." Zuko says. 

"Oh. Her?" Ozai wrinkles his nose like he smells something disgusting. "Okay, if that's who you want to waste your time with. Not my first choice. But oh well. No one ever listens to me, right?"

Zuko turns and heads towards the front of the house without another word. 

~

"Yay," Mai says as soon as Zuko climbs into the car. "Now you can ask Sokka out and go on another date, right? I don't know why you didn't want to borrow my phone to ask him, but you do you."

Mai never asks what happens when Zuko has to visit home. She knows not to ask. 

"Because that would be weird and also-wait a minute wait a minute," Zuko says as Mai begins to back out of the driveway. "I'm not even sure if last time was a date-"

"Huh? You're not sure? Did I hear that right? Let me get this straight. Sokka picked you up, he fondled your belt-"

"Ew please stop I hate that word-"

"You went to a concert at 7, you told him you wanted him to fondle your belt again, he drove all the way back to your house just to kiss you, and you ate gas station snacks on the hood of his car underneath the stars, and you don't call that a date?" Mai says, incredulous, as she waits for the automatic gates of the house to open. 

"We never said the actual word." Zuko says. 

"Ughhhh you're annoying...."

"Yeah..."

"I have a question though," Mai says after she drives past the gate and onto the street. "I should have thought of this before, but...not only did you not text him for like three weeks-" 

"Two and a half weeks, my phone was broken, my father-" 

"Yeah I know, I know, you had shit going on, this is your first situation, blah blah blah...what I meant was-did he pay for you?" Mai asks. 

"...Huh?"

"Like, for the gas. And for the concert. And for the gummy worms. And the Four Loko. Like...it's not a big deal, like that's nice of him. But did you at least thank him?" Mai asks. 

"..."

"You're an asshole! You didn't thank him?"

"I didn't know-" Zuko is panicking Zuko is panicking Zuko is panicking- "I've never been in a situation !!! Are you supposed to talk about that in a situation?" 

"Um, yes. Absolutely yes." 

"Oh god." 

"Yeah." 

~

As soon as Zuko gets home, he looks up California gas prices and how much gas Kia's consume per mile and the cost of two concert tickets for a band no one knows and the price of two packs of gummy worms and two Four Lokos and divides everything by two. 

Finally Zuko comes up to the lump sum of 50 dollars per person and he hopes that's enough but he's probably way off because apparently he doesn't know how money works. 

And Zuko feels terrible like wow not Sokka spending all that money and Zuko not talking to him for two and a half weeks.

"Shit." Zuko says. 

~

Venmo Transactions

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

you're supposed to eat the rich, not pay them [eye roll emoji]

Oct 19 11:11pm [public]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

nah dont worry i still wanna ~eat the rich~ [sticking out tongue emoji] anyway here ya go

Oct 19 11:19 pm [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

um absolutely not. no.

Oct 19 11:27 pm [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

no like you dont want your money back? or no, you dont want me to ~eat the rich.~ (do you get it? youre the...youre the rich.)

Oct 19 11:34 pm [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

...the first one.

Oct 19 11:48 pm [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

oh word? so you want me to ~eat the rich?~ [blushing emoji, fingers pointing at each other emoji]

Oct 19 11:55 pm [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

yeah. [bottom emoji, fingers pointing at each other emoji]

Oct 20 1:11 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

so...when are we going on our boba date?

Oct 20 1:15 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

tonight at 7

Oct 20 1:19 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

cool. I'll pick you up [satisfied emoji]

Oct 20 1:23 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

our banks right now seeing all these transactions come in [head exploding emoji]

Oct 20 3: 33 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

true lmaooo they're probably like "is this...fraud?"

Oct 20 3:56 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

stop messaging me so i can pay you back for the concert and so we can avoid going to jail for grand larceny

Oct 20 4:01 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

thats not what grand larceny is but ok [capital T underscore capital T]

Oct 20 4:05 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

STOP PAYING ME AND GO TO SLEEP

Oct 20 4:10 am [private]

~

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

ill never snitch on daddy [star eyes emoji]

Oct 20 6:19 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

i saw somewhere that joking about kinks can actually cause you to have them, so if you make this a thing between us i will be so mad

Oct 20 6:29 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

i would be OVERJOYED [heart eyes emoji]

Oct 20 6:34 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

I HATE YOU GOODBYE- [cursing emoji, middle finger emoji]

Oct 20 6:49 am [private]

Sokka paid Zuko [-50$]

i hate you too [bottom emoji]

Oct 20 6:55 am [private]

Zuko paid Sokka [-50$]

[colon apostrophe end parenthesis]

Oct 20 7:15 am [private]

~

It's 6:55pm and Zuko is terrified. Why didn't anyone tell him that asking someone out would be so terrifying? Zuko is 100 percent sure this is a date. He remembers the word "date" being mentioned over Venmo. Also, not Zuko flirting with Sokka over Venmo...but...actually...yes. It makes perfect sense. 

Texting (and Venmo-ing) is easier. Texting makes sense. Zuko can take his time, feel the words start to swirl and turn in his mind. Zuko can put his phone down and scream into his pillow, Zuko can run laps, Zuko can do whatever he needs to do to process, to deal with the messy, tangled ball of pressure that forms in his chest when he's talking to someone. But in person? That's tricky. For instance, it's usually not ideal to run away from the person you're speaking to in the midst of conversation. So, there's that. 

Zuko hears the telltale sound of Sokka's car horn outside, loud and blaring, and Zuko's neighbors probably hate him but he couldn't give less of a fuck about that because Sokka is here. 

Zuko shuts his front door and locks it and he thanks everything that is good in the world that he is on the ground floor, because that means there are less footsteps, less strides separating him from Sokka. And Zuko immediately hates his stupid artist brain for thinking things like that. 

Sokka is leaning against his car, and he's wearing a monochrome brown outfit-a fitted brown short sleeved button down and fitted brown pants and brown dress shoes. And he looks really good, he looks so good, and Zuko really should tell him that, because he rehearsed this beforehand. But he doesn't. Sokka speaks first before Zuko can say anything.

"Hey. Come here. Let's take care of something first." Sokka says. And Zuko nods and he steps forward and Sokka kind of pulls him in by the hips, so close that it's like they're connected there, so close that there isn't anywhere that their bodies aren't in contact with one another, and as Sokka kisses him, Zuko is so very much aware of the layers of clothing between the two of them, and, for the very first time, a thought enters his mind, loud and insistent, and Zuko suddenly thinks that it would kind of sort of be nice if there weren't any layers between them at all. 

No one talks about that do they? Zuko realizes this as Sokka swipes his tongue across Zuko's bottom lip. No one talks about that sudden switch, that moment in time, where suddenly you think of someone in a different way than you ever have before. Or in this case, a very different way. 

It's not that Zuko had never thought of it before. Of what it would be like. It's just not the first thing he thought of when he met Sokka. There had been too many things running through his mind, and then he was worried about his phone, and then sweaty white men were hugging at a concert...he just had had other things to deal with. 

But now, there is nothing else to think about. At least, not really. There is nothing else to think about except this kiss. And Zuko isn't saying that he suddenly wants Sokka to lay him flat against the hood of his Kia and tell him he's a terrible person and rail him until he can't speak or anything. 

No. He definitely isn't saying that.

But he's not not saying that. 

No. Zuko takes it back. That could never happen. 

It would be super impractical! People could see. 

Hmm. People could see...

The kiss ends way too soon, and Zuko steps back because he isn't sure what else to do. It couldn't have lasted more than twenty seconds, but Zuko definitely would not have minded if it lasted longer. Like for ten minutes or like eight hours maybe, who knows. Should he say something? Should he tell Sokka he looks really good? Would now be a good time? 

"How do I ask you to kiss me for longer?" Zuko decides to say. 

Oh dear lord. That was a terrible thing to say, wasn't it?

Sokka blinks once, then twice, his signature smile gone from his face. Zuko can't figure out Sokka's expression.

Zuko's never been looked at that way before, so he has nothing to compare it to. 

"Let's just get in the car, buddy," Sokka says. 

Sokka tries to reach behind himself to open the car door, but he misses and ends up grabbing the air instead. He puts his hand in his pocket, clearing his throat. 

Hmm. He seems distracted by something, but Zuko has no idea what. 

Maybe Econ classes are stressing him out or something? 

Zuko walks over to the passenger's side, and he briefly considers making a run for it, locking himself back in his apartment and never leaving, because he is incredibly embarrassed by the words that he decided to say. But it's too late, because he's already sitting in the car now and the door is closed and the car is locked and Zuko is past the point of no return. 

This is going to be an...interesting date.


	8. the boba date pt II

~Sokka~

That is absolutely not okay. 

How do I ask you to kiss me again? 

Sokka wonders if he should start writing down the things Zuko says, like maybe he should put that shit in his Notes app, even though there's no way that he'll forget. 

Sokka never really understood that whole idea, of being with someone who makes it impossible to speak, or think, or form coherent sentences. But it's definitely true. It can definitely happen. 

All Sokka could think to do was say Let's get in the car buddy. He couldn't exactly say: Let's get in the car buddy, before I lay you flat against the hood of my Kia and tell you what a terrible person you are and rail you until you can't speak, could he?

No. He definitely couldn't. Zuko definitely wouldn't like that. Definitely not. 

Sokka and Zuko get to the boba place at 7:15pm, which is kind of late to be going to a boba place, but oh well. Sokka lets Zuko order for the both of them, since he's the boba-connoisseur here, and Sokka hears him say something about "brown sugar" or something like that. 

The duo grab their drinks and sit down by one of the booths by the window. Sokka can't believe it's almost November-the days have even been getting colder...well, as cold as they can get in California. It makes Sokka start thinking things, like about holiday break and where Zuko will be over holiday break and if they'll still be hanging out by then...and it also makes Sokka realize-

"I just realized that we know like nothing about each other," Sokka says bluntly. Zuko's eyes widen, and Sokka decides to backtrack, aggressively poking his straw into his boba cup before speaking. "What I mean is-we know weird things. Like I know your phone is so cracked that I don't know how it even functions-" 

"I got a new phone actually and my old one was broken that's why I couldn't text you-" 

"Oh cool, no worries buddy, anyway, I know that your phone is so cracked that I don't know how it even functions, I know that you like boba, I know that you have a penchant for yelling at yourself on the side of the road. But I don't know, like, your zodiac sign. You know?"

I'm a Libra," Zuko says.

"Oh. Wait, that explains everything." 

"What does it explain?" 

"The constant, accidental flirting," Sokka says. Zuko blinks as if processing what Sokka just said. 

"Accidental? Who said it was accidental? I was trying to, like-" 

"Wow-"

"Say things that people say when they...but I don't know what people say when they-" 

"Thank you for proving my point," Sokka says, leaning back in satisfaction. Zuko smiles a soft smile, and Sokka likes how it forms softly, almost like an afterthought, like the feeling of happiness started from within and the smile is a brief look into his inner thoughts underneath. 

"Okay, since we're already discussing this...What sign are you?" Zuko asks. 

"Leo."

"Yeah. Absolutely." 

"Okay hold on-why absolutely? Like, why are you absolute about this?" 

"I just am. I don't need to explain myself," Zuko 

"..."

"..."

"Explain yourself." 

"Make me." 

"Maybe I will," Sokka says, and smiles as Zuko suddenly becomes very preoccupied with his boba. "Okay, so...favorite color?" 

"Green," Zuko says. "You?" 

"Orange." 

"Okay, nice." 

"Any siblings?" Sokka asks. 

"No," Zuko says. 

"Oh cool. I got a younger sister who goes here. Katie. We fight a lot but it's all good. Does that mean you're pretty close to your parents then since you're an only child?"

Zuko suddenly gets really still. He takes a sip of his boba as if considering his next words very carefully.

"I'm an only child, and...I'm not the closest to my family. Specifically my father. So. Yeah." 

"I see," Sokka says.

"Yeah. There's just a lot of shit, like-he knows I'm bi, but he doesn't think bisexuality exists? Ahaha. Also, he thinks I'm majoring in Business, cause he's alumni here and he's a hedge fund manager or whatever, but I didn't want to do that because fuck capitalism, so I'm kind of lying to him about my entire career path. And he's paying my tuition. So yeah, we'll just see how that goes at Graduation." Zuko says. 

Zuko smiles a sad smile, throwing up a peace sign. 

"He doesn't think bisexuality exists? Like Bigfoot?" Sokka asks, incredulous. 

"Yeah, I guess. He's always like people are either gay or straight, and you need to pick a side."

"This isn't soccer," Sokka says. 

"I know." 

"What does he think the B in LGBTQIA+ stands for?" 

"I don't know. Business?" Zuko says. 

"..."

"..."

"...Lesbian Gay Business?" 

"I guess," Zuko says. He shrugs, but Sokka can see the pain in his eyes. 

"How have we not...discussed things like this?" Sokka asks. 

"We never did the twenty questions thing," Zuko points out. 

"Right. I was too busy touching your Louis Vuitton belt."

"And causing group hugs to form at concerts." 

"Right. Just causing absolute chaos."

"Uh huh. Wreaking havoc." 

"Yup."

"I have a question," Zuko says after a moment. "How do you feel about the word fondle?"

"I absolutely hate it," Sokka says. He's very aware that Zuko is trying to change the subject, but he doesn't press the issue. Zuko can tell him more when he's ready. 

"Exactly. Who doesn't? Mai's the only person I've ever heard use the word fondle in person." 

"I hate gross words," Sokka says. 

"Like moist," Zuko offers."

"Slurp." 

"Orifice."

"Caress." 

"Wait, no, I gotta push back on that. I kind of like the word caress." Zuko says. 

"No, see-I had an English teacher who kept using the word caress to describe this guy named Kafka's work. He literally sounded like this-" Sokka sets aside his boba, and lowers his voice, taking the time to really get into character. "Kafka's prose is subtle and nuanced, and his motifs-"

"Float across one's auditory apparatus like a gentle caress," Zuko finishes, copying Sokka's tone of voice. Sokka leans in, blinking rapidly. Can Zuko read his mind or something? He really hopes Zuko can't read his mind because that would not be good. 

"Um, what? How did you know what I was gonna say?" 

"I took the class, smart guy," Zuko says, 

"Wait, why did we both take the same class about Kafka? Bye-" 

"I have no idea, man," Zuko says. 

"I don't think you can change my mind about caress though, buddy," Sokka replies. He takes another sip of drink, and then chews, and he realizes that hey, maybe he doesn't hate boba? Although that might just be because of the company he's with. But he would never say that out loud. 

"I think I can," Zuko says. He leans forward over the table, and suddenly he's inches away. "What if I told you something like...Your eyes are soulful, and I feel your gaze float across my skin like a gentle caress?"

Sokka almost chokes on a tapioca pearl.

Fuck, he takes it all back. He really does hate boba.

"Pack it up, Wattpad," Sokka jokes. 

Zuko laughs, but it almost seems forced. He sits back down, and a brief moment of silence passes between them. Sokka wonders if he missed something vitally important. Should he have said something back, or something? 

"You smell like pine trees," Zuko says finally. "I mean, I think I kind of sort of said that when we first met, but...yeah." 

"Yeah, I know. It's the pot. As we discussed." 

"Right." 

"Did you...did you want to try some of the said pot?" Sokka offers after a moment. He doubts Zuko would say yes, though. He doesn't seem like the type of person to-

"Yeah, sure. Right now?" Zuko asks. Sokka blinks in shock. Well okay then. 

"Yeah. Okay. Right now. Let's head to my car. We can share a pipe." 

~

"I don't feel anything," Zuko says. 

"Uh-you will in a minute," Sokka says. 

Zuko really wants to cough. Sokka can tell. He's been there. But Zuko's clearly trying to be cool or whatever so his lips are fused together tightly as he holds the cough in and passes the pipe back to Sokka. 

Sokka puts his thumb over the carb hole and sucks hard on the mouthpiece of the pipe while aiming his lighter toward the flowers in the bowl. The smoky scent fills his mouth, and he lets go of the carb hole before taking another hit. 

Sokka can feel the heat of Zuko's eyes on him as his lips wrap around the pipe. 

Zuko clears his throat as Sokka throws his head back and exhales. 

"Okay I feel like I'm starting to feel it now," Zuko says. 

"Yeah. Of course you are. You were sucking too hard." 

"I'm sorry, sucking?" Zuko says, blinking rapidly. 

"On the pipe. You sucked too hard on the pipe. So you took a bigger hit than you should have for your first time," Sokka says. 

"Oh, right." 

"Yeah." 

Zuko is silent for a moment, and then he takes the pipe from Sokka, lighting it and taking yet another hit. 

He's definitely doing way too much for his first time, but Sokka can't judge. He was like that at first too, but now he's way more experienced. 

"This must cost a lot," Zuko says, passing the pipe back to Sokka. 

"Ahh, who gives a fuck about money," Sokka says in response. He can feel his brain start to grow fuzzy, and it feels fucking amazing. "Money doesn't even exist. And it makes no sense." 

"...Aren't you an Econ major?" 

"Yes."

~

Not even an hour passes before Zuko loses his shit. 

"Yo, Sokka?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I can't see my hands-" 

"What?"

"I SAID I CAN'T SEE MY HANDS-"

"ZUKO CALM DOWN-"

"I CAN'T CALM DOWN-"

"Ok ok ok-" Sokka says, putting his hands on Zuko's shoulders. "You're just paranoid, yeah? It's a normal reaction." 

"Oh. Okay," Zuko says quietly, and something jolts, deep in Sokka's chest, because Zuko is looking at him like he trusts him wholeheartedly, like Sokka could say the youth are renegading again and Zuko would believe him, and that is a scary feeling, and so he shoves it down deep inside and chooses to deal with it at a later date. 

"We need to get some food in you, yeah? So let's get In and Out or something." Sokka says. 

"Yeah, okay," Zuko says. After a moment, his eyes widen, and he leans in until he and Sokka are almost nose to nose. "Wait...I know someone who works at the In and Out. Her name's Ty Lee. She kinda has a thing with Mai. I bet she's working the drive-thru right now." 

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Sokka says. He very much likes where this is going. 

"Yes. I absolutely am." 

"Okay, give me a second. Let me just run through my list of drive-thru pranks here," Sokka says. He feels like he's swaying even though he's sitting down, and he takes a minute to grasp at scattered thoughts, attempting to pull them closer to him and put them together. "How about we go for a classic, and walk through the drive-thru instead of driving through it? And we can make made-up characters or something-" 

Zuko seems to perk up when he hears made-up characters because he leans even closer and now...wait, should Sokka pull away? Because their lips are almost touching, they're so close. 

"Talk to me about my character," Zuko says, deathly serious. "Do they have a dark past? Some scores to settle, maybe?" 

"Damn, forget about that painting shit. You should be on Broadway, man." 

"Answer the question," Zuko says, still very serious. Sokka chuckles. 

"Okay fine. Uh...You're a washed-up reality tv star and I'm your manager slash forbidden lover," Sokka offers. "How's that?"

"Perfect." Zuko pulls away, and Sokka holds back a sigh. He really wishes Zuko hadn't pulled away.

~

"Welcome to In and Out, what can I get for you?" 

"Um, excuse me?" Zuko says, yelling at the intercom. Zuko and Sokka are standing at the drive-thru line, which is empty, thank goodness. It is uncharacteristically cold out, and so Zuko's arm is wrapped around Sokka's waist for warmth, but it's also because they're both very very high. "Is that any way to address the winner of Season... twenty-seven of Love Island?" Zuko must have decided to adorn a British accent at some point, because he's British now. 

"Uh, I think you mean Season six, sir," Sokka offers, throwing in a British accent of his own. He's quite impressed with himself, actually. 

"Right, sure, whichever season of Love Island I was on. I'm too rich and sexy to keep track." 

"The rich and sexy part is true, my lord," Sokka says. 

"Thank you, good sir. You see, this is why I always have my manager with me. Even though our relationship is forbidden, he tells me how rich and sexy I am all the time. Alas, this is how we show our love." 

Somewhere along the way, their British accents have become less cockney and more like something out of a 19th-century regency novel. 

"Yo, Zuko, is that you?" Another voice says through the intercom. 

"Um, yeah." Zuko says, dropping the act immediately. Sokka shakes his head in disappointment. What happened to committing to the role? 

"Oh my god stop it right now come up to the window." The voice says. 

Sokka and Zuko look at each other and sigh, accepting their defeat. 

The person who Sokka assumes is Ty Lee is holding two bags up when they trudge up to the window. Her hair is pulled back and hiding under her cap, and her eyes are bright from both enthusiasm and fatigue. 

"Okay, so I'll give you this food for free, because Mai is my homegirl, but both of you are so out of pocket for this," Ty Lee says. She is trying to sound stern, but the glint in her expression betrays her. "So you have to apologize first." 

"I am sorry for my actions," Sokka says immediately, stepping closer to the window. "I respect you and all the work you do in the service industry-I'm Sokka, by the way-" 

"Hi, Sokka!" 

"Hi Ty Lee-anyway, I was just trying to impress my boyfriend here, and- one thing led to another. Again, sorry."

Ty Lee nods, solemn for a moment, before she hands the bags to Sokka. 

"Okay, there ya go! I like your boyfriend, Zuko."

With bags of food in tow, Zuko and Sokka high tail it out of there as Ty Lee's employees start coming up to the window to ask...questions. It's only until Zuko and Sokka are safely back in the car when Sokka notices the slip-up. 

boyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriend-

Fuck. Sokka called Zuko his boyfriend. 

There is a deep, weighted silence felt in the Kia.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Zuko says after a moment. 

"I mean..." Sokka falters off. 

"..."

"..."

And then Zuko, as per usual, says the last thing Sokka could have predicted him to say. 

"I want to sit on your lap. Can I?"

"..."

"..."

"Yes. Absolutely." Sokka breathes. 

"Awesome. Let me just-"

"Your seatbelt is still on."

"Fuck-yeah. safety first-ow, fuck-"

"Andddd you hit your head."

"But now I'm here. So I don't give a fuck."

"..Out here risking a concussion for some di-"

"Stop talking I'm trying to be sexy," Zuko whispers. 

"It's working," Sokka whispers, and he presses his lips against Zuko's. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are heating up !! lmk what y’all think-comments make my day <333


	9. rich and sexy

~Zuko~

"You're doing the most with your hips right now, my guy." Sokka tells Zuko in between kisses. Zuko is still in Sokka's lap in the car, and he's not sure how long they've been like that, but he definitely doesn't want to stop anytime soon. "I mean I'm not complaining, but damn. You're treating me like I'm a mechanical bull at a county fair, or something."

"Am I?" 

"Yeah, you're like, doing way too much with it-"

"Oh, I was tryna be like-"

"I mean, I appreciate the enthusiasm, you know. Like good effort. I like the beat-"

"I was tryna be like, you know, like, Shakira." Zuko finally says.

"..."

"I'm sorry. I'm still a little high." 

"Zuko, you're not Shakira." 

"Right-"

"Your hips are lying right now. No, actually, scratch that. You're lying to yourself." 

"Okay. I get it. Your point has been made. No situations, remember?" Zuko points out. 

"Wait-shit," Sokka pauses, slightly taken aback. "So, when you said no situations, you also meant...no situations?"

"Yeah." 

Sokka's mouth sets into a hard line, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He moves his hands so that they're resting on Zuko's hips. Zuko can feel the heat of Sokka's fingers as they splay across Zuko's bare skin under his shirt. He pulls Zuko even closer until there is absolutely nothing separating them, save for their clothing. Zuko gulps. 

"Roll your hips like this, "Sokka says. His eyes are clouded over, and he bites his lip, and Zuko feels like he shouldn't be looking at him, like if they keep looking at each other then Zuko will actually fall apart. "Grind against me. Yeah. Like that." 

Sokka grips Zuko's hips even tighter, moving them in a steady rhythm until Zuko can move on his own. 

"Fuuuck," Zuko whispers. 

"Yeah," Sokka whispers. 

"Is this-are you okay? Is that okay?" Zuko asks. 

"Yeah. It's great. Please keep going. And you? Is this okay?" Sokka asks. 

"Yeah," Zuko whispers. 

If Zuko could describe how it feels, he would say that he feels like he's about to melt, like he needs to get his hands and mouth on something, and so his hands go back into Sokka's hair, and his mouth intertwines with Sokka's once more, and Zuko moans as Sokka sucks on his tongue. Sokka digs his fingers so deep into Zuko's hips that Zuko's sure he's going to spontaneously combust from the pleasure and pressure of it all. 

Zuko has this thought, this brief insecure thought that pierces through all the passion and pot, like wow you probably look so stupid right now, you probably look so lame and you're probably a bad kisser and you're moaning way too loud but it doesn't matter. 

No, it really doesn't matter, because Sokka is doing this thing now where he's running his hot tongue across the planes of Zuko's neck, and Zuko wants Sokka to bite him and maybe they could like spit on each other or something because why not, like he's that turned on so why not-

"Can I spit in your mouth or something?" Zuko asks.

Sokka pulls away and nods so aggressively he almost hits his head on the back of the seat.

"Yes. Yes. Great idea." Sokka says. Zuko puts Sokka's face in his hands and he kneads his cheeks with his thumbs, willing his mouth to open. Zuko's not sure where all this confidence is coming from. He is a man possessed. He figures he has good ole California weed to thank for that. 

"Open your mouth, please, sir," Zuko says softly, and Sokka gasps, and his hips lift off of the seat for a brief moment and Zuko matches his movement, cursing under his breath. Fuck. Fucking hell. 

"Call me that again, good god. Please," Sokka begs.

"I will...if you promise to be a good boy for me and open your mouth," Zuko whispers.

"...Fuuuck. Yes. I promise."

Sokka parts his mouth, and then lets it hang open slightly, and Zuko prays to whoever's out there to allow him to be able to fucking aim and not ruin Sokka's glorious monochrome outfit, and apparently, his prayers are heard because he spits and it lands right on Sokka's tongue, and Sokka lets out a guttural sound, deep from his chest, that reverberates throughout Zuko's entire body.

"Go ahead and swallow, sir," Zuko says, and Sokka does.

It's at the point that Zuko decides he needs a break, or he actually might explode, and so he pulls away, because how embarrassing would that be if he finished prematurely in his Calvin Kleins in a few minutes with no direct stimulation in a seedy parking lot on a sorta chilly night on top of a really hot guy in an orange Kia?

"I'm not interested in seeing anyone else except you if you're not interested in seeing anyone else." Sokka whispers.

"Yes. Absolutely. I am not interested in seeing anyone else. Ever. In fact, I don't want to be...I simply refuse to be perceived. By anyone else....You get what I mean. I think we're on the same page." Zuko whispers. 

"Same page? Fuck that. We're in the same paragraph." 

"Same line." 

"Same sentence." 

"Same word."

"...I think we should make out again." Sokka says.

"Oh yeah?"

".Yeah."

"..."

"Like preferably right now. If that works for you." Sokka clarifies. 

"Yes sir." 

"...Fuuuck."

~

Zuko is so happy Zuko has hickies all over his neck Zuko should probably talk to Sokka about that, because Zuko has class and a family, like maybe Sokka can put those hickies other places next time, like where clothes can cover them, because Zuko can't just walk around with hickies on his neck all the time. 

Anyway-

boyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriend-

Sokka had said other things, and they definitely had done other things, of the kissing and dry humping variety, but all Zuko can hear and remember until he gets back home is 

boyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriend-

"Yo," Mai says, picking up on the first ring. "First of all, I'm sure you're calling because something amazing happened, I'm so happy for you, blah blah blah-is there any reason why Ty Lee just called me at 3 am and told me that she was thinking about me and just wanted to say hey? Like I'm not sure yet how it's your fault but I know it's your fault."

"First of all, you're welcome," Zuko says, and he collapses on the couch and he realizes that he is very...frustrated, more frustrated than he's ever been, and he probably has chafing like...everywhere, because dry humping for a very long time has done absolutely nothing for Zuko except cause him pain, so much pain, so he'll definitely need to take care of that later but for right now he's just really really happy. "I'm pretty sure that that means she's actually madly in love with you, and our late night drive-thru escapade slash her meeting with the winner of the twenty-seventh season of Love Island and his manager slash forbidden lover made her realize her want for companionship-"

"Stop she's just my friend-I mean she's really pretty and I'm in love with her and I would date her if she wanted to-but she's just a friend. Also: what are all the words you just said right now? Like-who are you right now-" 

"Anyway, Ty Lee calling could only mean good things. Nothing but good things. Everything is so good. Also, I have a boyfriend. Like we said the words, like we're exclusive. So....everything is really really good," Zuko says. 

"...Right, and oh my fucking god I'm so happy for you, but...are you...are you-" 

"Yes. I'm high."

"Okay. Yes. That makes sense. Cause I was wondering. But anyway-yay! Yes! Congrats," Mai says, and Zuko's heart feels like it's going to burst out of his chest because she sounds so happy for him, and did he mention that he's really happy? 

"Thank you! It was actually really cute actually, like our date. And the whole car situation after the date was the best part, like it was literally the best few hours of my life ahahaha. Like we would do some stuff and then take a break and pass the pipe and then talk and do some more stuff-and I, like, spit in his mouth and called him a good boy once, I'll admit-and it was really cute actually. Do you know what I mean by stuff, Mai? I can go into more detail if you -" 

"That's all the detail I need, please don't go into more detail-" Mai says. 

"So yeah it was really cute-"

"Actually there's one thing I need clarification on...you spit in his mouth and called him a what now? Like..."

"Yeah. I did. Like, pretty early on actually," Zuko says frankly. 

"Like..." Mai repeats, in shock. 

"Yeah like a few minutes in...I mean, we really only made out. I guess I was just trying to spice things up."

"That's never happened to me like, that early-whenever I hooked up with my ex-girlfriend we didn't start spitting in each other's mouths until like hour six-"

"Hour six? How-how long do y'all...go for-" 

"Anyway, that's hilarious to me," Mai says, holding back a laugh. 

"Is this..." Zuko pauses and tells himself not to panic. "Is this one of those times where you tell me that I did this whole situation wrong, because if it is-" 

"No that's not what I'm saying! Like, I'm sure Sokka thought it was fun, he liked the beat, but-" 

"Shit." 

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, did Ty Lee say anything about me? Like, it's not like I care or anything, but..." 

"Wait-I remember something," Zuko said, sitting up. "She specifically said that you were her homegirl. I remember that." 

Mai lets out a really loud breath. 

"What does that mean, Zuko?" 

"I have no idea, how would I know-"

"Hold on, let me like...look up the definition of homegirl," Mai says gravely. 

A silence passes between the two of them over the phone as they both look up the definition of homegirl. 

"Okay, I found it," Zuko says. "Your absolute best friend-"

"Oh my god, I hate everything-"

"No matter who goes down on who-" Zuko adds. 

"Wait, hold on, wait-what was that? No matter who goes down on who?" Mai asks. 

"Wait," Zuko says, shaking his head. "I read that wrong. It says, no matter what goes down, you've got each other's back." 

"Shit." 

"Yeah," Zuko says sadly.

"..."

"Wait a minute though...Even though this definition is saying friends, there's something-" 

"Yeah. There's still something very gay about that definition." Mai adds. 

"This definition is giving me very much history would say they were just friends, you know?" Zuko points out. He flips over so that he's laying on his stomach, putting the phone on speaker so he can set it down and smush his face into the couch cushions. 

"Yeah, like-your absolute best friend no matter what goes down? That's giving me lying naked on a bed in a painting together-" 

"Holding hands-" 

"Right, holding hands, on a bed, but like...they were just friends," Mai says. 

"Right. There's still hope. But you're just friends though, right? Like you said? So you don't care, right?" Zuko teases. Mai is silent for a long moment, and Zuko smirks before realizing that Mai can't see his smirk over the phone, which makes this moment less satisfying for him. 

"Yes, right, absolutely. I don't care and I also don't care that she's pan and that she told me that we should get married and we almost kissed once like I don't care." 

"...Right." Zuko says. 

"Anyway Zuko, I'm going to bed and maybe texting Ty Lee so congrats on the spitting and the good boy thing, Christian Grey." 

"Stop I hate you-" 

"Hate you more," Mai says and hangs up. 

Zuko sighs, and a familiar tight ball of stress starts to settle inside him.

Zuko starts thinking things, like how Mai said that he probably shouldn't have spit in Sokka's mouth during their first real make-out session, like he's probably doing everything wrong and out of order and Sokka isn't saying anything because he's nice but secretly he's thinking Zuko's so weird, this is not how relationships are supposed to go. And even if Sokka did like it, Zuko's not sure if he can live up to the hype. Like if your boyfriend spits in your mouth during your first make-out session, you're probably expecting some life-changing sex, so when they actually eventually get down to business, Sokka is probably gonna be like huh? 

Zuko probably set the bar too high with that one. 

Also, Zuko is realizing that he definitely overshared at the boba place. Like, he really laid it all out there on the table with the whole family troubles thing, and there's still so much more that Sokka doesn't know, so what will happen if Zuko tells Sokka everything? What if Sokka's like Woah that's a lot of trauma and runs away? 

And then there's the other big thing, the one thing that Zuko hasn't really stopped to consider. 

Zuko's sure he heard something somewhere about how it's unwise to start relationships in senior year or something because they only lead to separation and heartbreak. 

Or something. 

But why worry about all of that now? 

Things are going so well, after all. So there's nothing to worry about, right? 

Yup. Absolutely nothing to worry about. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rich and sexy indeed :)


	10. the secret language

~Sokka~

Wow. That was. Alot. And it's not like Sokka should be expecting alot because this is Zuko's first situation but he lowkey kind of is. No, he highkey is. Like damn. Maybe Zuko is a natural. Or a quick learner at the very least. Because he went from hook 'em horns cowboy with the hips to freak nasty in about three seconds, and all it took was a quick adjustment from Sokka. 

Not that Sokka minds. He absolutely does not. 

Damn. It's always the quiet ones. 

But Sokka is also getting very annoyed and worried because he hasn't heard from Zuko in three and a half weeks and he's hoping this doesn't become a consistent thing that Zuko does. You know, the whole ghosting the boyfriend thing. 

Like, technically he's heard from Zuko. In the most technical sense. For example, Zuko texted "hi" about a week ago, but when Sokka tried to ask him out he didn't respond. So. And Sokka will text him here and there and Zuko will respond, but it's mostly one word answers. So. Sokka's not sure if Zuko is just busy because midterms were a thing and Thanksgiving was last weekend (which Sokka does NOT celebrate because fuck Thanksgiving), but winter break is coming up so he's kind of running out of excuses. They're both in-state, Sokka knows that, but he's also not sure of Zuko's home situation, and if they'll be able to see each other. So the whole situation is just very unfortunate. 

"I'm just going to be frank with you and say that I'm not a fan," Suki says one day.  
The two of them are studying in Sokka's favorite coffee shop on central campus. The entire shop smells like espresso, and it's almost completely packed. It's a miracle Sokka and Suki were able to grab their favorite booth, but they got there pretty early in the morning to study, so that certainly helped. Suki is flipping through a giant Bio Textbook as per usual, her iced Venti dirty Chai half finished. 

"Not a fan? Of what? Like, what are you referring to?" Sokka asks. 

"...Nevermind..." Suki trails off, and Sokka knows that can't mean anything good. Suki is the master at that-she knows how much a perfectly timed facial expression or huff of disappointment can cut through the soul-respectfully. But before he can ask what she's not a fan of, his brain short circuits because Zuko is here Zuko is here Zuko is here. 

Zuko is wearing a fitted black turtleneck, tailored pinstripe black pants with a chain hanging from his black belt, a black fanny pack over his chest, and black Doc Martens, and he is looking very sexy and apologetic.

"Hey," Zuko says, and he's kind of standing in front of Sokka and Suki booth, and so Sokka gestures for him to sit down before it gets awkward. 

Zuko chooses to sit down next to Sokka, which would usually be annoying, like, Sokka hates when couples sit on the same side of a booth, not that Sokka and Zuko are a couple or anything. 

But it's not annoying, it's very much not annoying, and suddenly it gets a little difficult for Sokka to think thoughts because he remembers the feeling of Zuko's body against his, the taste of his mouth, the intoxicating scent of his cologne that Sokka would probably hate on anyone else because it smells like almost too rich, like how can anyone smell that expensive in real life, but since it's Zuko he doesn't care. 

"I don't think we've met. I'm Suki." Suki says. 

"Hi, Suki. I'm Zuko." Zuko says, and reaches across the table to shake her hand. 

"I'm aware." Suki says curtly. Suddenly, Sokka connects the dots together. 

Suki doesn't like Zuko. And that's not good.

Sokka wants his absolute best friend in existence to like his...whatever Zuko is to him. Boyfriend. Right. Boyfriend. They kind of did confirm that, didn't they? 

Kind of. 

But Sokka kind of understands where Suki is coming from. Because as far as Suki is concerned, Zuko is a guy who keeps ghosting Sokka and sending mixed messages, but that's not entirely fair, so maybe Sokka is just doing that thing where he's only telling Suki about the bad things. Maybe he should start telling her about the good things. Sokka does that sometimes; he only talks about the bad things. But there are a lot of other things to talk about. Because there are lots of good things. Plenty of good things, in fact. 

Like when Zuko smiles; it's like a gift because it doesn't happen very often, and so whenever Zuko smiles, Sokka feels this feeling start to twist up in his chest, and he feels like he might split apart in the best way. Or how bold Zuko is, like he's scared and anxious as hell all the time but he's also weirdly brave, like he goes for what he wants even when he's afraid. Sokka's father would probably call him "courageous." 

And now Sokka's freaking out, because, like, don't they need to meet each other's families? Since they're apparently boyfriends or something-

"Hey! Earth to Sokka!" Suki says, waving her hand in front of Sokka's face. "You have this weird look on your face. It's creepy." 

"Sorry..." Sokka says, uncharacteristically nervous, and he tells himself not to look over at Zuko right now, because he cannot deal with his beautiful face right now. 

"Anyway, I'll leave you lovebirds to it," Suki adds, collecting her textbooks and shoving them into her backpack. Sokka is very concerned for her back, with how many freaking textbooks she insists on having on hand at all times. He is so concerned with the state of Suki's back and Suki's back health that it takes him a moment to realize that yes, he is in fact alone (or, somewhat alone) with Zuko for the first time since the...car incident, and Zuko is looking at Sokka like all he can see is him, and Sokka forces himself to take a deep breath so he doesn't spontaneously combust right then and there. 

"I just wanted to explain myself," Zuko says softly, his voice sounding particularly raspy today, most likely from a lack of sleep, and not for the first time, Sokka feels bad that he finds the fact that Zuko doesn't sleep sexy. 

"Explain what?" Sokka says, and he knows what but he just wants to hear Zuko say it. He needs that reassurance. 

"Why I kinda...stopped talking to you...for a while...I was so embarrassed. I was acting so weird that night. I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me again." 

"...What? What are you talking about? First of all, you were high. And second of all, I liked it. I'd like you that way even if you weren't high. Because I like you. That's how the whole we're in a relationship thing works." 

"Oh." 

"Yeah," Sokka says, feeling like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He is so fucking glad that Zuko disappearing on him is a 'not knowing how situations work' thing and not a 'I don't like you' thing. "So usually people in relationships text each other regularly. Like good morning texts at least. And they go on dates. Doesn't have to be anywhere fancy, at least all the time. And they don't expect each other to act one way. They accept each other, no matter what, you know?" 

"That's what you did with Yue?" Zuko asks, and Sokka feels this pang form in his chest, like he's been caught doing something, even though he hasn't really done anything at all. Sokka searches Zuko's face to see if there's any jealousy and contempt there, and there doesn't really seem to be. Zuko is this strange dichotomy-sometimes he's so open with his emotions, and other times Sokka truly has no idea what he's thinking. It's all so very new and strange, and Sokka's not sure how to feel. 

"Um, yeah I guess...So anyway, if you're going through shit, that's okay. I want to help you through that." Zuko seems to clam up at Sokka's words; he digs his fingers into his crossed arms. Sokka knows him well enough by now to drop the issue.

After a moment, Zuko's eyes light up, and he looks back at Sokka with this shy expression, and Sokka thinks that he actually might pass out right now, like how embarrassing would it be to pass out right now because his sort-of-boyfriend is like this. 

"I was thinking...of ways we could communicate better," Zuko starts. "Do you want to, you know, fuck around, make a secret language?" 

"Do I have to pick?" Sokka asks seriously. 

"..."

"Like, do I have to pick between making a secret language or us fu-" 

"No, I got the joke." 

"..."

"..."

"...Laugh." 

"No." 

"Aw," Sokka pouts. 

"Anyway, we could come up with a code so we know when to drop an issue, or when something's too hard to explain. Like..." Zuko lifts his chin up, chewing his lip as he thinks, and Sokka tries to will his brain to stop thinking nasty thoughts all the time, because Zuko is literally just chewing his lip, like how did Sokka's brain go from chewing lips to- "like...we talked about Love Island that night, right? So, like, if one of us says 'Love Island only has six seasons, then that means, like 'I'm going through something and I'm overwhelmed' or something." 

"I like that," Sokka says slowly, nodding. "I could get down with that." 

Zuko smiles at Sokka, he gives Sokka one of those rare smiles, and Sokka tells himself to calm down, because he can't freak out every single time Zuko does something as normal as smile at him. That's not healthy or sustainable at all. 

"Thank you for being so understanding."

"There's no need to thank me. Like I said before-bare minimum, remember?" Sokka says. Sokka wonders about that, about Zuko's seemingly constant worry about being too much, about being overbearing, when he's clearly the opposite. But Sokka doesn't want to push. He really doesn't want to push. But he hopes that by not pressing the issue, that he's not missing something vitally important, that he's not missing something that Zuko is trying to tell him, something that he can't really put into words. 

But Sokka can't really think anymore, not right now, not with Zuko's hand on top of his. 

Sokka looks down at their two hands for a long moment, like he's forgotten how holding hands works, like him and Zuko didn't make out for hours a few weeks ago. But this feels different somehow. Right now, no one is high (although Sokka did have like one hit this morning, but that's neither here nor there), and this feels more tender somehow, more tender and meaningful. Sokka intertwines his fingers with Zuko's, and smiles at him. 

Sokka would kiss Zuko right now, but he knows that once he kisses him he'll want to do other stuff, and he's not trying to give everyone in this coffee shop a show, like they've gotta subscribe first. So Sokka lifts up their hands and kisses the back of Zuko's hand like he's some kind of prince or something, and he closes his eyes for a moment and he wonders how the hell he got this lucky. 

"So...would this be a good time to mention how much I hate when couples sit on the same side of the booth together?" Sokka asks after a while. 

"No-I hate it too-but it's like my brain hated the idea so much that I did it anyway, you know?" 

"Nothing you just said made any sense." 

"Does anything I say make any sense?" 

"...You got me there. But that's why I like you so much." 

"Good," Zuko says, and he laughs, a real genuine laugh, and Sokka closes his eyes and decides to store this moment away, somewhere far away, so he can look at it again one day in the not so distant future.


	11. draw me like one of your french girls

To Zuko, drawing is his everything. He finds peace with every stroke of the pencil. It’s a calming routine, the endless creation that ensues with every little bit of contact his pencil makes with the page. He is lulled into a state of calm, a happy commonplace between reality and fantasy. 

He sits on the floor of the art room, facing the wall, in a forgotten corner by the unused easels and painting supplies, and he smiles to himself. Here, everything is okay. Here, life is under control, and he doesn't have to worry about the things he doesn’t have to worry about-

“Is that some kind of tree?” 

Zuko turns around, and Tai Lee sits down across from him, pulling out her phone and tapping on it a few times before showing it to him. “I swear I’m not trying to be creepy, just showing up like this-Mai told me you usually meet up with her after art class-as per this text-and I wanted to see her, so I thought I’d walk with you to see her.” 

“Wait a minute,” Zuko says, shaking his head in confusion. “You did all of that-figure out when I get out of art class so you could pretend to just show up and run into Mai later when we meet up-just to see her?”

“Yes,” Tai Lee says slowly. 

“Why don’t you just...ask her out?” Zuko says inquisitively. “I mean...you’re gay.” 

“Yeah,” 

“And Mai’s gay.”

“Yeah.”

“And you like each other.”

“...I’m 92% sure she likes me.” 

“So...why don’t you just be gay together?” 

“That’s pretty hypocritical coming from you, emo boy,” Tai Lee says, punching Zuko lightly in the shoulder. “Why aren’t you and Sokka married yet?” 

Suddenly Zuko feels something in his chest, and he slaps it lightly to try to get it out, and now he’s coughing on nothing, he’s literally coughing on air, because, like-married? 

“Who said anything about getting married?” Zuko says, out of breath. “We’re barely not even kind of sorta...exclusive. ly. dating. each other.” 

“I was joking!” Ty Lee laughs. “But judging by your reaction, my hunch is right-you are smitten.” 

“Smitten? Me? No. No one’s smitten,” Zuko insists, but Ty Lee just hums happily, pulling Zuko up by his arm and leading him out the door. 

“Yes. You’re smitten. Now, come on. It’s time for me to be as awkward around Mai as you are around Sokka!” 

“Someone said my name?” 

And Tai Lee stops pulling on Zuko just before he almost collides into Sokka in the doorway. 

“Ah!” Zuko yells out in surprise because he’s not sure what else to say. 

“Hey. Sorry to scare you, my guy,” Sokka says, clapping him on the shoulder, and Zuko has to physically restrain himself from leaning into the touch because that would be weird, and Ty Lee is literally right there, but Zuko is also very touch starved, so there’s that. Sokka squeezes Zuko’s shoulder once before letting go and then waves at Ty Lee. 

“Hello again, Zuko’s boyfriend!” Ty Lee said cheerily. 

“Yup. I’m the boyfriend. Hey, Zuko’s friend,” Sokka says. 

boyfriendboyfriendboyfriendboyfriend Zuko will never get tired of hearing that-

“Sorry I barged in on you like this-I got Mai’s number, and she texted me and told me you hang out here. So I thought I’d surprise you. Hope that’s not too weird.” 

“No! That’s not...weird. At all. Ah ha.” Zuko musters. Ty Lee makes up something about how she has to go to the History building to see Mai and quickly leaves, shutting the door as she leaves, and Zuko quickly realizes something-

“Mai set this up,” Zuko and Sokka said at the same time. 

“I appreciate the efficiency,” Zuko said thoughtfully. “And I also appreciate that she got some alone time with Ty Lee in the process.” 

“Absolutely. Wanna sit?” Sokka says. Zuko nods, and the two of them sit down in chairs beside each other on a nearby table. If Zuko were braver, he would absolutely lift his legs up and rest them on Sokka’s lap, but he can’t do that, right? 

“Do you wanna put your legs in my lap?” Sokka asks. 

Oh. Well. There you go. 

“Sure,” Zuko says softy, and lifts his legs up, resting his legs on Sokka’s lap. The two of them sit in silence for a moment, and Zuko, suddenly feeling very nice but also very awkward, and so he rests his sketchbook on the table and starts doodling absentmindedly. 

“What are you drawing?” Sokka asks after a while. 

“Oh-uh. I’m not sure,” Zuko says. He takes a deep breath, and then he decides to say the words, quickly, before he can take them back. “Also...I can draw you. If you want.” 

“Oh really? Like one of your french girls?” Sokka says, and laughs at his own joke. 

“I never should have asked-”

“No, no wait. I would love that,” Sokka says sincerely. “What should I do?” 

“Just stay as still as possible,” Zuko says. Sokka turns to face him, and Zuko tightens the pencil in his hand, looking up at Sokka to draw. 

Sokka is staring at him with those bright beautiful eyes of his, and Zuko’s heart is pounding so fast, and he wants to just look down at his paper and get lost in it, but he can’t draw Sokka without looking at Sokka. 

And so Zuko looks at Sokka and tries to still his shaking hands. Fuck anxiety. 

Zuko draws Sokka’s expressive eyes, his angular jaw, his strong eyebrows, his lips. He makes the sketch quick and expressive, letting his hand move where it pleases. He gets into a flow, more invested in making sure the drawing is the best it can be rather than focusing on his legs in Sokka’s lap and the heat of his body and everything else.

With a sigh, Zuko lifts his pencil from the pencil. There. He is finished. There Sokka is, in all his glory, immortalized in graphite. His deep-set eyes seem almost alive on the paper, framed by his thick eyelashes and strong eyebrows. 

Anyone looking at this drawing would be able to tell how Zuko feels for Sokka. Anyone could tell by the softness of the sketch’s expression, the perfection of his features, the care taken in each stroke of the pencil, that the artist behind this drawing cares more for the subject of it than the artist can even put into words. 

And Zuko’s scared because it’s all way too soon. He shouldn’t feel this way because it’s way too soon. 

“Can I see it?” Sokka asks. Zuko nods, hesitantly holding his sketchbook up. Sokka doesn’t say anything. A long-ass moment passes. 

“Is this what I look like to you?” Sokka asks in a small voice. Zuko nods.

And Zuko’s face feels really hot, and so he shuts the sketchbook and takes his legs off of Sokka’s lap and stands. 

“I have to go,” is all Zuko says before he leaves the room. And Zuko hates himself because he definitely made things weird, and he half expects Sokka to chase after him like some kind of rom-com, but he doesn’t, because life isn’t a rom-com, and so Zuko escapes from the Studio Art building and heads off into the evening. 

“Stupid,” he says to himself, slapping his forehead as he heads to the nearby bus stop. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”


	12. sweater weather

Sokka’s not sure why Zuko ran off after the whole drawing thing. He quite liked the drawing. 

But he understands why Zuko felt embarrassed. The drawing felt vulnerable. Sokka looked at it and he saw someone he didn’t even recognize. He saw someone better than himself. It scares him to think that Zuko views him that way. But all he can do is strive to live up to it. 

The bad news is that Zuko did go a few weeks without talking to Sokka, but the good news is that it was only two weeks this time, but the bad bad news is that it’s winter break now and they can’t see each other, and Sokka really wants to see Zuko. But they can text. And because of the break, they start to get really great at texting. 

Like for example, Zuko apologizes for the drawing thing, and Sokka tells him he has nothing to worry about. Sokka asks what Zuko is wearing and Zuko says “a sweater” and Sokka says “I bet it would look better on the floor ;)” and Zuko sends Sokka a picture of the actual sweater on the actual floor. 

In any case, Sokka is happy to be home again, and so is Katara. Their dad is truly the best dad in the world, and he embraces both of them as soon as they walk in the door, and the three of them sit on the couch and watch terrible movies well into the middle of the night and it’s horrible. 

“You seem really happy,” Hakoda says, looking at Sokka inquisitively as the end credits for some horror movie start playing on the screen. 

“It’s because he has a boyfriend,” Katara says loudly, and Sokka reaches over on the couch to shush her, and Katara huffs, and Hakoda laughs at the two of them and everything feels perfect for a moment. 

“Is this true, Sokka?” Hakoda asks. Sokka nods, putting his feet up on the coffee table in an effort to look nonchalant. Unfortunately, his wavering voice betrays him. 

“Yeah...I guess you could say that I have a boyfriend. You know. Technically.” 

Hakoda puts an arm around him, squeezing him way too tight, and Sokka hugs him back because he’s happy, and because his dad is happy and that makes him happy. 

“I’m sure the two of you will continue to be happy together,” Hakoda says to Sokka. 

“I hope so too, dad,” Sokka says, smiling. 

Zuko does better over the break, Zuko texts Sokka at least once every day, and they’re usually good morning texts and that makes Sokka really happy, to roll over and check his phone and see that every day. 

Sokka wonders if Zuko is texting more because he’s home, because Sokka knows that Zuko doesn’t like his home, so maybe he’s doing this to cope. Sokka wants to help Zuko cope, and so Sokka calls Zuko one night. 

“Hi,” Zuko says, and as always, his voice sounds even raspier on the phone, and at night, and it makes Sokka feel things he shouldn’t feel, not right now. Maybe when Sokka and Zuko are back on campus-jesus christ, Sokka can’t wait to be back on campus, because there are things that Sokka wants to do to Zuko when they’re back on campus. 

“When I told you that sweater would look better on the floor and you texted me back and it said ‘1 Attachment’ on my phone, I opened your text and I was fully prepared to see, like, a nude or something. Not that I would ever ask or expect that of you. I just thought that was a funny thing you’d like to know,” Sokka rambles. 

Zuko is quiet for a moment, and Sokka is worried, not for the first time, that he’s been scared off or something. And finally, Zuko speaks. 

“I really wish we were at my apartment right now,” Zuko says, and he sounds all breathy, and Sokka reminds himself to take deep breaths to calm himself down. 

Because Sokka has been in a relationship before. Sokka is like 97 percent sure he understands what Zuko means by that. 

“In due time, buddy,” Sokka finds himself saying. 

“Can you say ‘my guy?’ Like, at least once?” Zuko says after a while. “I’m sorry if that’s a weird thing to ask.”

“It’s not weird at all. My guy.”   
And Zuko makes this involuntary sound that Sokka can feel through the phone, this sound that almost makes him get into his car and drive the two hours to Zuko’s house, but that would be impractical, that would be so impractical, and so Sokka tells himself that deep breaths shall suffice for now. 

And then Zuko says something that completely shatters Sokka apart. 

“Do you...want me to send...something?” 

Somethingsomethingsomethingsomething-

Sokka knows what Zuko means by “something.” 

“I would never ask you to-I mean, if you wanted to-I would be so honored if you-” Sokka is trying to formulate thoughts, but he’s not sure what to say, because Zuko just offered to send something and Sokka would love to see something but he wants Zuko to feel comfortable and he doesn’t want to be presumptuous and so he keeps his mouth shut.

“Okay. One sec.” Zuko says. There is some fumbling on the other end of the line, some blankets being shifted around, and then Sokka sees ‘1 Attachment’ appear on his phone and he opens it faster than he’s ever opened anything before and he realizes as soon as he sees Zuko shirtless that he’s never before seen Zuko shirtless. 

Even though they had spent hours in that car when they were high, Sokka had laid his palms flat against Zuko’s chest but had never once thought to slide his hands underneath Zuko’s cotton shirt, to let his fingers splay across the heat of his skin. 

Sokka should not be this excited about a shirtless man. But he is. Because it’s Zuko. 

Zuko is all lean muscle, and his skin looks soft and smooth, his shoulders are impossibly broad, and Sokka wants to run his hands across the surface of Zuko’s skin so that he can commit it to memory. 

“Did you get it?” Zuko asks after a while, and Sokka realizes he’s been quiet for the last few seconds, and decides he should rectify that. 

“You’re beautiful,” Sokka says earnestly, and Zuko sucks in a breath. 

“No one’s ever called me that before.”

“Really? What? Why not?” Sokka asks.

“The scar.” 

“Oh.” Wow. Nice going, Sokka. 

“Yeah.” 

“Well I’m going to tell you every day. I’m going to make it a mission. I’ll call it: Mission Tell Zuko He’s Beautiful Every Day. Starting Today. You’re beautiful.” 

There is a long silence on the other end of the line, and Sokka worries for a moment that’s said the wrong thing-until Zuko finally speaks. 

“Do you want to come see my apartment after break? Like the day we come back from break?” Zuko asks. “I’m planning on ordering new bedsheets. I don’t know, maybe we could try them out together.” 

“I would like that,” Sokka says, because that’s all he can say.

“Then it’s a date. Good night, Sokka,” Zuko says before hanging up. 

“It’s a date,” Sokka says, smiling softly to himself before drifting off to sleep.


	13. we have all night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the slow (ish?) burn is over, and the rest of this book shall contain spice-you have been warned!! also this ~scene~ will span 3 chapters just so you know

~Zuko~

Tonight is the night, and Zuko is absolutely terrified.

He’s been pacing back and forth like he’s in some kind of old-timey noir crime thriller, and he keeps sitting on the couch and then standing up because he’s not sure what to do because tonight is the night.

Zuko had an absolutely terrible winter break. He was back home, which meant he had to deal with his father, which mostly consisted of him hiding in his room all break so he wouldn't have to deal with his father. That only worked for so long, before Ozai started a routine of coming in and making toxic comments before leaving, and Zuko overanalyzing said comments and spiraling.

Zuko tried talking to his mom over break too. But she mostly stayed in her room. Her parents hadn’t shared a room for as long as Zuko can remember. It doesn’t really bother Zuko as much anymore, but it makes Zuko feel terrible that he never really gets to see her because she’s always in there all the time. Of course, he doesn’t blame her. A majority of his winter break was also spent avoiding Ozai.

So yeah. It wasn’t a good break. But Zuko doesn’t care anymore, because now the break is over, and now he gets to see Sokka.

Sokka with his positivity and his bright smiles and his chaos. Sokka with his hair that is soft enough to touch and his lips that-

Well. Zuko got off track there. But while he’s on that topic-

Zuko talks a big game for a virgin. At least, he has been talking a big game with Sokka for the last few weeks while he was home. He was sending him pictures and shit, telling him about all the things they're gonna do together once they're alone.

And now, for the first time since before break, they’re about to be alone. And again, Zuko is terrified, as if that wasn’t abundantly clear.

There’s a part of Zuko that worries, that thinks that he’s making things up. Like, maybe Sokka doesn’t even want to have sex with him? Maybe he was just saying that to be nice?

Maybe Sokka wants to come over to Zuko’s one-bedroom apartment at 10 pm on a Tuesday night to sit on the couch and like, play board games or something. Yeah, that definitely sounds feasible. And maybe Zuko is the weird virgin one who thinks about sex all the time but is also terrified of sex.

There are a lot of things to consider.

To add fuel to the fire, maybe if they do get around to the sex, maybe Zuko will be terrible, like laughably so, and Sokka will be like “You suck, virgin” and then just...leave.

That’s entirely possible.

Or maybe Sokka actually thinks that Zuko wants the two of them to try out his new bedsheets. Like maybe he’s actually expecting to come over and innocently roll around in the bedsheets before saying “See ya buddy” and then going home.

Zuko certainly wouldn’t put it past Sokka.

Well, Zuko won’t know until Sokka arrives-

Oh. Nevermind. He’s here. Like, right now.

Zuko jumps up off the couch, walking over to the front door. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself before opening it.

Sokka is wearing a soft gray cable knit sweater and his signature cross earring, and his hair is pulled away from his face like it always is, and he looks beautiful like it always does, and at that moment, Zuko forgets what words are.

“Hey,” Sokka says softly.

“Hey,” Zuko replies. “Do you want to come in?”

***

Sokka and Zuko have been sitting on the couch for the past ten minutes, and so far nothing has happened.

Zuko doesn’t even know what movie they ended up putting on-he thinks it’s from the ’80s? He has no idea, he’s too busy overthinking and overanalyzing instead of watching it. Because so far, Zuko has not spoken or moved since Sokka has arrived.

Zuko knows he should speak, he knows he should say something, but his mind is blank, and he’s really trying to watch the movie, he really is, but he can’t focus on the movie when Sokka’s shoulder is only inches away from his own.

But he can get closer. He can definitely get closer. So Zuko scoots closer, and closer still, until their shoulders are touching.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Sokka who finally breaks the silence.

“So, buddy. What’s on your mind?”

And suddenly everything washes over Zuko like a storm, and he’s so frustrated in more ways than one, and he’s just had a terrible few weeks, and he just wants to forget about everything for a while.

So Zuko decides to say what’s on his mind.

“What’s on my mind is I want you to rail me until I can’t walk. Respectfully,” Zuko says. “I want you to pound me into the fucking mattress. Respectfully. Could you do that for me?”

Sokka nods his head enthusiastically.

“Yes. Yes. I think I can manage that. Absolutely.”

“Then kiss me,” Zuko says. And Sokka does.

Sokka’s lips are soft, and he smells really good, and Zuko wants to kiss him everywhere, because he wants everything, and so he lays Sokka down on the couch and presses his body flush against them so that there isn’t a place where the two of them around touching.

Sokka’s body is so warm even through his sweater, and so Zuko takes hold of the hem of it and pulls it off so he can see more of Sokka.

“Are you sure you’re ready? I just want to make sure,” Sokka says in between kisses.

“I’m ready. Like I already...got ready. Also, I looked it up? So I kind of have an idea,” Zuko says as he swipes at a particularly soft spot on Sokka’s neck.

“Right, that’s fine, I can, uh, get you ready anyway, even if you weren’t,” Sokka says, before moaning and bucking his hips up as Zuko sucks down hard on the skin of his neck. “And I’m ...ready too, in case you wanted to-”

“Oh word?” Could I?”

“Yeah. We’ll take turns. No big deal.”

“Okay,” Zuko says, pulling away from Sokka’s neck for a moment. “So we’re doing this.”

“Yeah. We’re doing this.”

“Can we go to my room now?” Zuko asks as he pulls Sokka’s hair tie off and watches as the silky strands cascade around his face. Sokka looks so incredibly beautiful, so incredibly beautiful like Zuko feels like he’s staring at the sun, but there’s no way in hell he’s going to look away. He plants a kiss on Sokka’s neck again, right over a hickey that’s prominently based at the base of his throat, and Sokka lets out a gasp and leans into the contact.

“Right. Did you want us to lie on opposite sides of your bed underneath your new bedsheets, buddy?”

“I would prefer if we lay on top of each other and maybe roll around on my bed underneath my new bedsheets. You know...horizontally.”

“I would prefer that too. One hundred percent. Absolutely,” Sokka says.

“Then come here,” Zuko says, climbing off of the couch. He pulls Sokka up by his belt, leading him to his room so fast that Sokka stumbles a few times, laughing on the way there.

“There’s no rush, buddy,” Sokka says as soon as Zuko closes the door. Sokka pins Zuko against it, running his fingers through his hair before getting dangerously close to his mouth.

“Remember: we have all night,” Sokka continues, whispering the words against Zuko’s lips before planting a soft kiss there.

“You can’t be real,” Zuko says, swiping his fingers across Sokka’s mouth until he opens it. He has absolutely no idea where this is coming from, but he really wants Sokka to suck on his fingers, and Sokka opens his mouth and he takes Zuko’s fingers in and swirls his tongue around, and Zuko has to stop his knees from buckling because his brain is spinning out of orbit because this is too perfect, all of this is too perfect. “This is too good to be true.”

“You’re too good to be true,” Sokka says after releasing Zuko’s fingers, grinning as he grabs the hem of Zuko’s shirt and lifts it up and over his head.

Zuko pushes Sokka further into the room until the back of his knees hit the bed, and Sokka lets himself fall onto Zuko’s new bedsheets, bedsheets that they are about to ruin.

And as Zuko straddles him and plants kisses up and down Sokka’s neck, and Sokka grabs Zuko by the hips and rolls over so that he’s pinning Zuko down now, and his gorgeous hair frames his face as he straddles Zuko and gives him another kiss, Zuko feels something start to grow in the pit of his chest, something dangerous, an emotion he can’t describe that is being spurred on by Sokka’s grin and the dark room and the moonlight streaming through the windows.

‘Not that word,’ Zuko thinks as Sokka leans down to kiss him again. ‘Anything but that word.’


End file.
